Kahlotus, WA
Kahlotus, WA's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Kahlotus at the 91st national percentile for risk to structures, in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — a score built from 166 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Kahlotus's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 92nd percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
166 buildings are counted in Kahlotus, and 67.5% of them are Indirect exposure — ember-driven risk rather than the 32.5% in Direct exposure or the 0% rated Minimal.
Where Kahlotus ranks
There's little gap between Kahlotus's 91st national percentile and its 81st percentile inside Washington, which means the state comparison mostly confirms what the national score already shows. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Kahlotus ranks 2,946 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 26,197 by building count (1 is largest). Within Washington alone, it ranks 120 of 628 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Washington on its state page.
Kahlotus and the insurance market
Kahlotus's very high rating (91st percentile) puts it among the places where the national carrier-pullback trend is most relevant — not a guarantee of a coverage problem, but a reason to shop rather than assume.
What would actually reduce this score
Kahlotus's 67.5% 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
Kahlotus's 91st-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 Kahlotus, see the exposure-zones guide.