Orchard Mesa, CO
How exposed is Orchard Mesa to wildfire?
Orchard Mesa sits at the 60th percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — well above the national norm for wildfire risk — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 3,270 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Orchard Mesa at the 59th percentile, close to its 60th-percentile risk score.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Most of Orchard Mesa's buildings (77.7%) 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.
Orchard Mesa against the rest of the country
Orchard Mesa ranks lower within Colorado (28th percentile statewide) than its 60th national percentile suggests alone — a calmer spot in a state where wildfire risk generally runs high. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Orchard Mesa ranks 12,536 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 5,078 by building count (1 is largest). Within Colorado alone, it ranks 340 of 472 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Colorado on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Orchard Mesa
At the 60th percentile nationally, Orchard Mesa 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
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in Orchard Mesa (77.7% Indirect), vent screens and roofing material tend to matter more than lot clearing alone. The home-hardening guide covers both.
Where Orchard Mesa's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Orchard Mesa's 12,536-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Orchard Mesa's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.