Irondale, AL
How exposed is Irondale to wildfire?
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Irondale at the 70th national percentile for risk to structures, well above the national norm for wildfire risk — a score built from 5,988 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 Irondale at the 73rd percentile, close to its 70th-percentile risk score.
Irondale's building exposure, zone by zone
USFS classifies 54.4% of Irondale's buildings as Direct exposure, higher than its 44.8% Indirect share and far above its 0.9% Minimal share — a profile where 3,255 structures sit close enough to vegetation that lot clearing matters most. At 5,988 buildings, this is a substantial built environment, so the shares below describe a real population of structures, not a handful of edge cases.
Where Irondale ranks
Irondale's 70th national percentile looks worse in isolation than its 46th ranking inside Alabama does — this place is on the milder end for its own state, by 24 points. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Irondale ranks 9,506 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 2,880 by building count (1 is largest). Within Alabama alone, it ranks 322 of 592 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Alabama on its state page.
Irondale and the insurance market
At the 70th percentile nationally, Irondale carries the high rating that has pushed some carriers to limit new business in similarly-scored places elsewhere in the country. Worth comparing quotes rather than assuming last year's renewal terms still apply.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Because Direct exposure dominates in Irondale (54.4%), the highest-leverage fix is defensible space, not roofing or vents alone — covered in the home-hardening guide.
Where Irondale's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 5,988 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Irondale. The exposure-zones guide covers what Irondale's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.