Hauula, HI
How exposed is Hauula to wildfire?
Hauula's 1,222 buildings earn a 94th-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Hauula's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 91st percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Indirect exposure is dominant in Hauula (87% of 1,222 buildings): far enough from burnable vegetation to avoid flame contact, close enough for wind-blown embers. Only 11.3% sit in the Direct zone.
Hauula against the rest of the country
Hauula's 94th national percentile looks worse in isolation than its 67th ranking inside Hawaii does — this place is on the milder end for its own state, by 27 points. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Hauula ranks 1,916 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 10,523 by building count (1 is largest). Within Hawaii alone, it ranks 55 of 163 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Hawaii on its state page.
Hauula and the insurance market
Hauula's 94th-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
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in Hauula (87% Indirect), vent screens and roofing material tend to matter more than lot clearing alone. The home-hardening guide covers both.
Where Hauula's figures come from
Hauula's 94th-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 Hauula's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.