Kahului, HI
How exposed is Kahului to wildfire?
Out of every US place USFS scores, Kahului lands at the 92nd percentile for wildfire risk to structures — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — a figure built from its 6,347 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Kahului at the 87th national percentile — 4 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Kahului's building exposure, zone by zone
80.7% of Kahului's 6,347 buildings fall in USFS's Indirect exposure zone — ember cast rather than direct flame — against 13.6% Direct and 5.8% Minimal. Vent screens and roofing material matter more here than lot clearing alone. At 6,347 buildings, this is a substantial built environment, so the shares below describe a real population of structures, not a handful of edge cases.
Where Kahului ranks
Kahului ranks lower within Hawaii (51st percentile statewide) than its 92nd national percentile suggests alone — a calmer spot in a state where wildfire risk generally runs high. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Kahului ranks 2,673 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 2,728 by building count (1 is largest). Within Hawaii alone, it ranks 80 of 163 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Hawaii on its state page.
Kahului and the insurance market
At the 92nd percentile nationally, Kahului carries the very 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.
Hardening a home in Kahului
Kahului's 80.7% 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 Kahului's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Kahului's 2,673-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Kahului's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.