Delta, IA
How exposed is Delta to wildfire?
USFS scores Delta at the 62nd national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (well above the national norm for wildfire risk), a figure built from 276 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Delta at the 63rd percentile, close to its 62nd-percentile risk score.
Where Delta's buildings actually sit
Most of Delta's buildings (79.4%) sit in the Indirect zone, where wind-blown embers rather than flame front are the mechanism USFS is scoring — ember-resistant vents and non-combustible roofing are the interventions this pattern favors, more than defensible space alone.
How Delta compares
Within Iowa, Delta ranks higher (86th percentile) than it does nationally (62nd) — one of the more fire-exposed places in a state that, overall, scores lower than that. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Delta ranks 12,035 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 22,317 by building count (1 is largest). Within Iowa alone, it ranks 147 of 1,017 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Iowa on its state page.
Delta and the insurance market
At the 62nd percentile nationally, Delta carries the high rating that has pushed some carriers to limit new business in similarly-scored places elsewhere in the country. Worth comparing quotes rather than assuming last year's renewal terms still apply.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Delta's 79.4% 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.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 276 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Delta. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Delta, see the exposure-zones guide.