Haines, AK
Haines wildfire risk explained
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Haines at the 10th national percentile for risk to structures, among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally — a score built from 1,177 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Haines at the 11th national percentile — 0 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Where Haines's buildings actually sit
62.7% of Haines's 1,177 buildings sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone, roughly 738 structures close enough to burnable vegetation for flame contact, not just embers — 37% fall in the Indirect, ember-only zone and 0.3% are Minimal.
How Haines compares
There's little gap between Haines's 10th national percentile and its 14th percentile inside Alaska, which means the state comparison mostly confirms what the national score already shows. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Haines ranks 28,228 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 10,782 by building count (1 is largest). Within Alaska alone, it ranks 276 of 322 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Alaska on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Haines's low rating (10th 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
Because Direct exposure dominates in Haines (62.7%), the highest-leverage fix is defensible space, not roofing or vents alone — covered in the home-hardening guide.
Where Haines's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Haines's 28,228-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Haines's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.