Mescal, AZ
How exposed is Mescal to wildfire?
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Mescal at the 96th national percentile for risk to structures, in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — a score built from 1,290 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Mescal's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 97th percentile nationally.
Where Mescal's buildings actually sit
Direct exposure dominates in Mescal: 78.5% of its 1,290 buildings, versus 21.6% Indirect and 0% Minimal. Clearing space around a structure changes the outcome here more than any single building-material swap.
Mescal against the rest of the country
Mescal's 96th national percentile looks worse in isolation than its 78th ranking inside Arizona does — this place is on the milder end for its own state, by 18 points. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Mescal ranks 1,280 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 10,118 by building count (1 is largest). Within Arizona alone, it ranks 100 of 441 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Arizona on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Mescal
Mescal's very high rating (96th 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.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Because Direct exposure dominates in Mescal (78.5%), the highest-leverage fix is defensible space, not roofing or vents alone — covered in the home-hardening guide.
Where Mescal's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Mescal's 1,280-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Mescal's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.