North Pole, AK
North Pole, AK's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
North Pole's 934 buildings earn a 90th-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks North Pole at the 90th national percentile — 0 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Direct exposure dominates in North Pole: 61% of its 934 buildings, versus 38% Indirect and 1% Minimal. Clearing space around a structure changes the outcome here more than any single building-material swap.
Where North Pole ranks
North Pole's risk sits at a similar level relative to Alaska (76th percentile statewide) as it does nationally (90th) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, North Pole ranks 3,171 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 12,431 by building count (1 is largest). Within Alaska alone, it ranks 80 of 322 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Alaska on its state page.
North Pole and the insurance market
North Pole's 90th-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 North Pole
North Pole's 61% 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.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 934 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for North Pole. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond North Pole, see the exposure-zones guide.