Garner, IA
Garner wildfire risk explained
Out of every US place USFS scores, Garner lands at the 2nd percentile for wildfire risk to structures — among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally — a figure built from its 1,609 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Garner's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 2nd percentile nationally.
Where Garner's buildings actually sit
Garner rates 90% Minimal exposure against just 10% Direct and 0% Indirect — of 1,609 buildings counted, few sit close enough to burnable vegetation for USFS to flag them individually.
Garner against the rest of the country
Garner scores 2nd nationally and 3rd within Iowa — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Garner ranks 30,919 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 8,734 by building count (1 is largest). Within Iowa alone, it ranks 990 of 1,017 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Iowa on its state page.
Garner and the insurance market
Garner's low rating (2nd percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Even with 90% of Garner 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.
More on how this number was built
Every one of the two percentiles behind Garner's 30,919-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. For more on what minimal exposure implies beyond Garner, see the exposure-zones guide.