Ferguson, IA
Ferguson wildfire risk explained
USFS scores Ferguson at the 58th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (modestly above the national average for wildfire risk), a figure built from 117 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 Ferguson at the 59th percentile, close to its 58th-percentile risk score.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
USFS classifies 84.6% of Ferguson's buildings as Minimal exposure, the largest of the three zones here by a wide margin over 15.4% Direct and 0% Indirect — a landscape-level risk rather than a building-by-building one.
Ferguson against the rest of the country
Compare Ferguson's two percentiles: 80th within Iowa, only 58th nationally — a gap of 22 points that marks it as unusually exposed for its own state. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Ferguson ranks 13,358 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 28,301 by building count (1 is largest). Within Iowa alone, it ranks 208 of 1,017 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Iowa on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
At the 58th national percentile, Ferguson rates elevated for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
Hardening a home in Ferguson
Even with 84.6% of Ferguson outside USFS's Direct and Indirect zones, basic hardening — gutter maintenance, ember-resistant vents — is inexpensive relative to the regional burn-probability risk noted above. Details in the home-hardening guide.
Where Ferguson's figures come from
Ferguson's 58th-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 Ferguson's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.