Kelso, WA
How exposed is Kelso to wildfire?
Out of every US place USFS scores, Kelso lands at the 24th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range — a figure built from its 4,940 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Kelso at the 23rd percentile, close to its 24th-percentile risk score.
Kelso's building exposure, zone by zone
Indirect exposure is dominant in Kelso (84.3% of 4,940 buildings): far enough from burnable vegetation to avoid flame contact, close enough for wind-blown embers. Only 7.9% sit in the Direct zone.
How Kelso compares
Within Washington, Kelso ranks higher (39th percentile) than it does nationally (24th) — one of the more fire-exposed places in a state that, overall, scores lower than that. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Kelso ranks 23,966 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 3,466 by building count (1 is largest). Within Washington alone, it ranks 384 of 628 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Washington on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
At the 24th national percentile, Kelso rates moderate for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
What would actually reduce this score
Because 84.3% of Kelso's buildings sit in the Indirect zone, sealing the ember pathway (vents, roofing, gutters) is the intervention this page's data actually supports — see the home-hardening guide.
Where Kelso's figures come from
Kelso's 24th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Kelso's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.