Forest, LA
Forest wildfire risk explained
Forest's 260 buildings earn a 42nd-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Forest at the 41st percentile, close to its 42nd-percentile risk score.
Forest's building exposure, zone by zone
260 buildings are counted in Forest, and 77.3% of them sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone — flame contact, not just ember cast, is the live possibility for most of them, against 22.7% rated Minimal.
Where Forest ranks
There's little gap between Forest's 42nd national percentile and its 41st percentile inside Louisiana, which means the state comparison mostly confirms what the national score already shows. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Forest ranks 18,270 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 22,824 by building count (1 is largest). Within Louisiana alone, it ranks 287 of 488 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Louisiana on its state page.
Forest and the insurance market
Forest's elevated rating (42nd percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
Hardening a home in Forest
Because Direct exposure dominates in Forest (77.3%), the highest-leverage fix is defensible space, not roofing or vents alone — covered in the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 260 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Forest. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Forest, see the exposure-zones guide.