Hamilton, WA
Hamilton wildfire risk explained
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Hamilton at the 33rd national percentile for risk to structures, close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range — a score built from 235 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Hamilton at the 32nd national percentile — 1 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Where Hamilton's buildings actually sit
USFS puts 53.6% of Hamilton's 235 buildings in the Indirect exposure zone, versus 46.4% Direct and 0% Minimal — a place where the fire doesn't need to reach the structure directly for embers to.
How Hamilton compares
Compare Hamilton's two percentiles: 52nd within Washington, only 33rd nationally — a gap of 19 points that marks it as unusually exposed for its own state. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Hamilton ranks 21,256 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 23,651 by building count (1 is largest). Within Washington alone, it ranks 303 of 628 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Washington on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Hamilton
At the 33rd national percentile, Hamilton rates moderate for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Because 53.6% of Hamilton's buildings sit in the Indirect zone, sealing the ember pathway (vents, roofing, gutters) is the intervention this page's data actually supports — see the home-hardening guide.
Where Hamilton's figures come from
Hamilton's 33rd-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Hamilton's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.