Kalaeloa, HI
How exposed is Kalaeloa to wildfire?
Kalaeloa sits at the 93rd 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 815 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 Kalaeloa at the 91st percentile, close to its 93rd-percentile risk score.
Where Kalaeloa's buildings actually sit
Only 15.5% of Kalaeloa's 815 buildings carry Direct exposure and 0% carry Indirect; the remaining 84.5% are Minimal, which shifts the risk driving this page's score toward the surrounding landscape rather than any one structure.
Kalaeloa against the rest of the country
Kalaeloa's 93rd national percentile looks worse in isolation than its 61st ranking inside Hawaii does — this place is on the milder end for its own state, by 32 points. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Kalaeloa ranks 2,264 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 13,499 by building count (1 is largest). Within Hawaii alone, it ranks 64 of 163 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Hawaii on its state page.
Kalaeloa and the insurance market
At the 93rd percentile nationally, Kalaeloa 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.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Even with 84.5% of Kalaeloa 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.
Where Kalaeloa's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Kalaeloa's 2,264-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Kalaeloa's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.