Mendeltna, AK
Mendeltna wildfire risk explained
Out of every US place USFS scores, Mendeltna lands at the 96th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — a figure built from its 62 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Mendeltna's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 94th percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
62 buildings are counted in Mendeltna, and 100% 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.
How Mendeltna compares
Mendeltna's risk sits at a similar level relative to Alaska (87th percentile statewide) as it does nationally (96th) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Mendeltna ranks 1,341 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 30,563 by building count (1 is largest). Within Alaska alone, it ranks 43 of 322 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Alaska on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Mendeltna
Mendeltna's 96th-percentile, very high rating is the kind of score behind a broader national pattern: insurers pulling back from the highest wildfire-risk markets, non-renewing or declining new policies outright, most visibly in California. Shopping around, not assuming automatic renewal, tends to matter here.
Hardening a home in Mendeltna
Because Direct exposure dominates in Mendeltna (100%), the highest-leverage fix is defensible space, not roofing or vents alone — covered in the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
Mendeltna's 96th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Mendeltna, see the exposure-zones guide.