Ponchatoula, LA
How exposed is Ponchatoula to wildfire?
Ponchatoula sits at the 72nd 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 3,654 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Ponchatoula's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 72nd percentile nationally.
Ponchatoula's building exposure, zone by zone
60.9% of Ponchatoula's 3,654 buildings fall in USFS's Indirect exposure zone — ember cast rather than direct flame — against 39.1% Direct and 0% Minimal. Vent screens and roofing material matter more here than lot clearing alone.
Where Ponchatoula ranks
Ponchatoula's risk sits at a similar level relative to Louisiana (86th percentile statewide) as it does nationally (72nd) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Ponchatoula ranks 8,765 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 4,576 by building count (1 is largest). Within Louisiana alone, it ranks 67 of 488 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Louisiana on its state page.
Ponchatoula and the insurance market
Ponchatoula's 72nd-percentile, 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.
What would actually reduce this score
Because 60.9% of Ponchatoula's buildings sit in the Indirect zone, sealing the ember pathway (vents, roofing, gutters) is the intervention this page's data actually supports — see the home-hardening guide.
Where Ponchatoula's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Ponchatoula's 8,765-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Ponchatoula's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.