Meraux, LA
How exposed is Meraux to wildfire?
USFS scores Meraux at the 69th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (well above the national norm for wildfire risk), a figure built from 3,004 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Meraux at the 57th percentile, lower than its 69th-percentile risk score, because so much is actually built here.
Meraux's building exposure, zone by zone
Most of Meraux's buildings (78.2%) sit in the Indirect zone, where wind-blown embers rather than flame front are the mechanism USFS is scoring — ember-resistant vents and non-combustible roofing are the interventions this pattern favors, more than defensible space alone.
How Meraux compares
Within Louisiana, Meraux ranks higher (85th percentile) than it does nationally (69th) — one of the more fire-exposed places in a state that, overall, scores lower than that. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Meraux ranks 9,639 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 5,429 by building count (1 is largest). Within Louisiana alone, it ranks 73 of 488 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Louisiana on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Meraux
At the 69th percentile nationally, Meraux 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.
Hardening a home in Meraux
Meraux's 78.2% 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 Meraux's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 3,004 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Meraux. The exposure-zones guide covers what Meraux's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.