Kotzebue, AK
Kotzebue wildfire risk explained
Kotzebue sits at the 22nd percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 952 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Kotzebue at the 27th national percentile — 5 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Where Kotzebue's buildings actually sit
Indirect exposure is dominant in Kotzebue (76.2% of 952 buildings): far enough from burnable vegetation to avoid flame contact, close enough for wind-blown embers. Only 8.8% sit in the Direct zone.
Kotzebue against the rest of the country
There's little gap between Kotzebue's 22nd national percentile and its 22nd percentile inside Alaska, which means the state comparison mostly confirms what the national score already shows. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Kotzebue ranks 24,540 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 12,291 by building count (1 is largest). Within Alaska alone, it ranks 251 of 322 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Alaska on its state page.
Kotzebue and the insurance market
Kotzebue's moderate rating (22nd percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
What would actually reduce this score
Because 76.2% of Kotzebue'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.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 952 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Kotzebue. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Kotzebue, see the exposure-zones guide.