Paa-Ko, NM
Paa-Ko wildfire risk explained
USFS scores Paa-Ko at the 96th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally), a figure built from 398 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 Paa-Ko at the 93rd percentile, close to its 96th-percentile risk score.
Where Paa-Ko's buildings actually sit
100% of Paa-Ko's 398 buildings sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone, roughly 398 structures close enough to burnable vegetation for flame contact, not just embers — 0% fall in the Indirect, ember-only zone and 0% are Minimal.
Where Paa-Ko ranks
Paa-Ko's risk sits at a similar level relative to New Mexico (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, Paa-Ko ranks 1,389 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 19,252 by building count (1 is largest). Within New Mexico alone, it ranks 65 of 495 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for New Mexico on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Paa-Ko'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.
Hardening a home in Paa-Ko
Paa-Ko's 100% 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.
Where Paa-Ko's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Paa-Ko's 1,389-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Paa-Ko's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.