Irwin, IA
Irwin wildfire risk explained
USFS scores Irwin at the 46th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (modestly above the national average for wildfire risk), a figure built from 288 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Irwin at the 45th national percentile — 1 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
USFS classifies 86.1% of Irwin's buildings as Minimal exposure, the largest of the three zones here by a wide margin over 13.9% Direct and 0% Indirect — a landscape-level risk rather than a building-by-building one.
Irwin against the rest of the country
Within Iowa, Irwin ranks higher (63rd percentile) than it does nationally (46th) — one of the more fire-exposed places in a state that, overall, scores lower than that. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Irwin ranks 16,952 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 21,959 by building count (1 is largest). Within Iowa alone, it ranks 378 of 1,017 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Iowa on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Irwin
At the 46th national percentile, Irwin rates elevated for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
What would actually reduce this score
Even with 86.1% of Irwin 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.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 288 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Irwin. For more on what minimal exposure implies beyond Irwin, see the exposure-zones guide.