Hardy, IA
How exposed is Hardy to wildfire?
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Hardy at the 1st national percentile for risk to structures, among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally — a score built from 68 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Hardy at the 1st percentile, close to its 1st-percentile risk score.
Hardy's building exposure, zone by zone
USFS classifies 83.8% of Hardy's buildings as Minimal exposure, the largest of the three zones here by a wide margin over 16.2% Direct and 0% Indirect — a landscape-level risk rather than a building-by-building one.
Where Hardy ranks
Hardy scores 1st nationally and 0th 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, Hardy ranks 31,337 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 30,350 by building count (1 is largest). Within Iowa alone, it ranks 1,013 of 1,017 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Iowa on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Hardy's low wildfire rating (1st percentile) isn't the kind of score driving the carrier pullback making news in the highest-risk Western markets — but a standard homeowners quote is still worth comparing on its own terms.
What would actually reduce this score
Even with 83.8% of Hardy 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.
Where Hardy's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 68 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Hardy. The exposure-zones guide covers what Hardy's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.