Columbia, CA
Columbia, CA's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Out of every US place USFS scores, Columbia lands at the 98th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — a figure built from its 1,730 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Columbia's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 97th percentile nationally.
Columbia's building exposure, zone by zone
Of Columbia's 1,730 counted buildings, 76.3% carry Direct exposure and only 0% carry Minimal — a lopsided split that puts defensible-space clearing ahead of vents or roofing as the intervention worth doing first.
How Columbia compares
Columbia's risk sits at a similar level relative to California (85th percentile statewide) as it does nationally (98th) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Columbia ranks 530 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 8,303 by building count (1 is largest). Within California alone, it ranks 231 of 1,570 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for California on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Columbia's 98th-percentile score lands in California, the only two states requiring a wildfire disclosure at sale. California's surplus-lines homeowners market passed 300,000 policies for the first time in 2025, driven by carriers pulling back from wildfire-exposed areas statewide. The disclosure-law guide covers what it requires.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
With 76.3% of Columbia in Direct exposure, defensible-space clearing and ember-resistant construction (vents, Class-A roofing) address the exposure this page's own numbers describe, not a generic checklist. See the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
Columbia's 98th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Columbia, see the exposure-zones guide.