Haiku-Pauwela, HI
How exposed is Haiku-Pauwela to wildfire?
Out of every US place USFS scores, Haiku-Pauwela lands at the 87th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — a figure built from its 3,457 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Haiku-Pauwela at the 83rd national percentile — 3 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Where Haiku-Pauwela's buildings actually sit
75.2% of Haiku-Pauwela's 3,457 buildings sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone, roughly 2,600 structures close enough to burnable vegetation for flame contact, not just embers — 24.7% fall in the Indirect, ember-only zone and 0.1% are Minimal.
Where Haiku-Pauwela ranks
Haiku-Pauwela's 87th national percentile looks worse in isolation than its 26th ranking inside Hawaii does — this place is on the milder end for its own state, by 61 points. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Haiku-Pauwela ranks 4,220 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 4,835 by building count (1 is largest). Within Hawaii alone, it ranks 121 of 163 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Hawaii on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Haiku-Pauwela's 87th-percentile, very high rating is the kind of score behind a broader national pattern: insurers pulling back from the highest wildfire-risk markets, non-renewing or declining new policies outright, most visibly in California. Shopping around, not assuming automatic renewal, tends to matter here.
What would actually reduce this score
Because Direct exposure dominates in Haiku-Pauwela (75.2%), the highest-leverage fix is defensible space, not roofing or vents alone — covered in the home-hardening guide.
Where Haiku-Pauwela's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 3,457 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Haiku-Pauwela. The exposure-zones guide covers what Haiku-Pauwela's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.