Paonia, CO
How exposed is Paonia to wildfire?
Paonia sits at the 83rd percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 939 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Paonia's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 77th percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Most of Paonia's buildings (83.4%) 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.
Paonia against the rest of the country
Paonia ranks lower within Colorado (61st percentile statewide) than its 83rd national percentile suggests alone — a calmer spot in a state where wildfire risk generally runs high. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Paonia ranks 5,413 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 12,398 by building count (1 is largest). Within Colorado alone, it ranks 185 of 472 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Colorado on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Paonia's 83rd-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 Paonia
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in Paonia (83.4% Indirect), vent screens and roofing material tend to matter more than lot clearing alone. The home-hardening guide covers both.
Where Paonia's figures come from
Paonia's 83rd-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Paonia's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.