Coushatta, LA
Coushatta wildfire risk explained
USFS scores Coushatta at the 52nd national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (modestly above the national average for wildfire risk), a figure built from 990 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Coushatta at the 53rd national percentile — 1 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
USFS puts 64.4% of Coushatta's 990 buildings in the Indirect exposure zone, versus 35.6% Direct and 0% Minimal — a place where the fire doesn't need to reach the structure directly for embers to.
Where Coushatta ranks
Coushatta scores 52nd nationally and 61st within Louisiana — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Coushatta ranks 15,188 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 12,002 by building count (1 is largest). Within Louisiana alone, it ranks 193 of 488 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Louisiana on its state page.
Coushatta and the insurance market
At the 52nd national percentile, Coushatta rates elevated for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
What would actually reduce this score
Coushatta's 64.4% 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.
Where Coushatta's figures come from
Coushatta's 52nd-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Coushatta's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.