Fifth Ward, LA
How exposed is Fifth Ward to wildfire?
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Fifth Ward at the 59th national percentile for risk to structures, modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — a score built from 777 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Fifth Ward at the 60th 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
777 buildings are counted in Fifth Ward, and 85.2% of them sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone — flame contact, not just ember cast, is the live possibility for most of them, against 0% rated Minimal.
Fifth Ward against the rest of the country
There's little gap between Fifth Ward's 59th national percentile and its 74th percentile inside Louisiana, which means the state comparison mostly confirms what the national score already shows. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Fifth Ward ranks 13,014 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 13,841 by building count (1 is largest). Within Louisiana alone, it ranks 130 of 488 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Louisiana on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Fifth Ward's elevated rating (59th percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
What would actually reduce this score
Because Direct exposure dominates in Fifth Ward (85.2%), the highest-leverage fix is defensible space, not roofing or vents alone — covered in the home-hardening guide.
Where Fifth Ward's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Fifth Ward's 13,014-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Fifth Ward's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.