Holy Cross, IA
How exposed is Holy Cross to wildfire?
Holy Cross sits at the 8th percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 196 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Holy Cross's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 8th percentile nationally.
Holy Cross's building exposure, zone by zone
Indirect exposure is dominant in Holy Cross (82.1% of 196 buildings): far enough from burnable vegetation to avoid flame contact, close enough for wind-blown embers. Only 17.9% sit in the Direct zone.
Where Holy Cross ranks
Holy Cross scores 8th nationally and 16th 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, Holy Cross ranks 29,026 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 24,994 by building count (1 is largest). Within Iowa alone, it ranks 852 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
Holy Cross's low wildfire rating (8th 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.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Holy Cross's 82.1% Indirect-exposure share points at embers, not flame contact, as the main pathway — ember-resistant vents and non-combustible roofing rank ahead of defensible space here. Detail in the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
Holy Cross's 8th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Holy Cross, see the exposure-zones guide.