Kaw City, OK
How exposed is Kaw City to wildfire?
Kaw City sits at the 95th 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 400 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Kaw City's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 94th percentile nationally.
Where Kaw City's buildings actually sit
Direct exposure dominates in Kaw City: 72% of its 400 buildings, versus 28% Indirect and 0% Minimal. Clearing space around a structure changes the outcome here more than any single building-material swap.
Kaw City against the rest of the country
Inside Oklahoma, Kaw City sits at just the 77th percentile even though it scores 95th nationally — the state's overall wildfire exposure is high enough to make this a relatively quiet corner of it. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Kaw City ranks 1,709 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 19,219 by building count (1 is largest). Within Oklahoma alone, it ranks 193 of 834 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Oklahoma on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Kaw City's 95th-percentile, very high rating is the kind of score behind a broader national pattern: insurers pulling back from the highest wildfire-risk markets, non-renewing or declining new policies outright, most visibly in California. Shopping around, not assuming automatic renewal, tends to matter here.
What would actually reduce this score
Because Direct exposure dominates in Kaw City (72%), the highest-leverage fix is defensible space, not roofing or vents alone — covered in the home-hardening guide.
Where Kaw City's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 400 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Kaw City. The exposure-zones guide covers what Kaw City's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.