Melrose, IA
How exposed is Melrose to wildfire?
Out of every US place USFS scores, Melrose lands at the 77th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — well above the national norm for wildfire risk — a figure built from its 134 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Melrose's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 79th percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
134 buildings are counted in Melrose, and 68.7% of them sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone — flame contact, not just ember cast, is the live possibility for most of them, against 0% rated Minimal.
Where Melrose ranks
Within Iowa, Melrose ranks higher (99th percentile) than it does nationally (77th) — one of the more fire-exposed places in a state that, overall, scores lower than that. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Melrose ranks 7,279 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 27,539 by building count (1 is largest). Within Iowa alone, it ranks 15 of 1,017 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Iowa on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Melrose
At the 77th percentile nationally, Melrose carries the high rating that has pushed some carriers to limit new business in similarly-scored places elsewhere in the country. Worth comparing quotes rather than assuming last year's renewal terms still apply.
What would actually reduce this score
Melrose's 68.7% Direct-exposure share means lot clearing around the structure typically outweighs any single material upgrade here. The home-hardening guide ranks the options for a place shaped like this.
Where Melrose's figures come from
Melrose's 77th-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 Melrose's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.