Cottage Lake, WA
How exposed is Cottage Lake to wildfire?
Out of every US place USFS scores, Cottage Lake lands at the 13th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally — a figure built from its 10,196 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Cottage Lake's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 14th percentile nationally.
Where Cottage Lake's buildings actually sit
USFS classifies 66.1% of Cottage Lake's buildings as Direct exposure, higher than its 14.3% Indirect share and far above its 19.6% Minimal share — a profile where 6,740 structures sit close enough to vegetation that lot clearing matters most. At 10,196 buildings, this is a substantial built environment, so the shares below describe a real population of structures, not a handful of edge cases.
How Cottage Lake compares
Cottage Lake scores 13th nationally and 16th within Washington — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Cottage Lake ranks 27,438 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 1,575 by building count (1 is largest). Within Washington alone, it ranks 529 of 628 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Washington on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Cottage Lake's low rating (13th percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Because Direct exposure dominates in Cottage Lake (66.1%), the highest-leverage fix is defensible space, not roofing or vents alone — covered in the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 10,196 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Cottage Lake. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Cottage Lake, see the exposure-zones guide.