Kahuku, HI
Kahuku wildfire risk explained
Kahuku sits at the 87th percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 820 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Kahuku at the 84th percentile, close to its 87th-percentile risk score.
Kahuku's building exposure, zone by zone
820 buildings are counted in Kahuku, and 92% of them are Indirect exposure — ember-driven risk rather than the 8.1% in Direct exposure or the 0% rated Minimal.
How Kahuku compares
Kahuku's 87th national percentile looks worse in isolation than its 28th ranking inside Hawaii does — this place is on the milder end for its own state, by 59 points. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Kahuku ranks 4,091 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 13,445 by building count (1 is largest). Within Hawaii alone, it ranks 118 of 163 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Hawaii on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Kahuku
Kahuku's very high rating (87th 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.
Hardening a home in Kahuku
Kahuku's 92% 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.
Where Kahuku's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 820 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Kahuku. The exposure-zones guide covers what Kahuku's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.