Coulee City, WA
Coulee City wildfire risk explained
Coulee City sits at the 97th percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 556 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Coulee City's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 97th percentile nationally.
Where Coulee City's buildings actually sit
Indirect exposure is dominant in Coulee City (94.8% of 556 buildings): far enough from burnable vegetation to avoid flame contact, close enough for wind-blown embers. Only 5.2% sit in the Direct zone.
Where Coulee City ranks
Coulee City's risk sits at a similar level relative to Washington (92nd percentile statewide) as it does nationally (97th) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Coulee City ranks 992 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 16,488 by building count (1 is largest). Within Washington alone, it ranks 49 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
Coulee City's 97th-percentile, very high rating is the kind of score behind a broader national pattern: insurers pulling back from the highest wildfire-risk markets, non-renewing or declining new policies outright, most visibly in California. Shopping around, not assuming automatic renewal, tends to matter here.
Hardening a home in Coulee City
Coulee City's 94.8% Indirect-exposure share points at embers, not flame contact, as the main pathway — ember-resistant vents and non-combustible roofing rank ahead of defensible space here. Detail in the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 556 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Coulee City. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Coulee City, see the exposure-zones guide.