Maunaloa, HI
Maunaloa wildfire risk explained
USFS scores Maunaloa at the 95th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally), a figure built from 154 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Maunaloa's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 91st percentile nationally.
Where Maunaloa's buildings actually sit
154 buildings are counted in Maunaloa, and 70.8% of them are Indirect exposure — ember-driven risk rather than the 29.2% in Direct exposure or the 0% rated Minimal.
Maunaloa against the rest of the country
Inside Hawaii, Maunaloa sits at just the 75th 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, Maunaloa ranks 1,572 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 26,694 by building count (1 is largest). Within Hawaii alone, it ranks 41 of 163 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Hawaii on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Maunaloa's very high rating (95th percentile) puts it among the places where the national carrier-pullback trend is most relevant — not a guarantee of a coverage problem, but a reason to shop rather than assume.
What would actually reduce this score
Maunaloa's 70.8% 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 Maunaloa's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 154 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Maunaloa. The exposure-zones guide covers what Maunaloa's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.