Mechanicsville, IA
How exposed is Mechanicsville to wildfire?
Mechanicsville's 636 buildings earn a 20th-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Mechanicsville at the 20th percentile, close to its 20th-percentile risk score.
Where Mechanicsville's buildings actually sit
89.8% of Mechanicsville's 636 buildings sit in USFS's Minimal exposure zone, with only 10.2% rated Direct — risk here comes from regional burn probability more than proximity to burnable vegetation at the structure itself.
How Mechanicsville compares
Mechanicsville scores 20th nationally and 33rd within Iowa — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Mechanicsville ranks 25,113 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 15,391 by building count (1 is largest). Within Iowa alone, it ranks 683 of 1,017 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Iowa on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Mechanicsville's moderate rating (20th percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Even with 89.8% of Mechanicsville 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.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 636 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Mechanicsville. For more on what minimal exposure implies beyond Mechanicsville, see the exposure-zones guide.