Pukalani, HI
How exposed is Pukalani to wildfire?
USFS scores Pukalani at the 88th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally), a figure built from 2,675 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 Pukalani at the 83rd percentile, close to its 88th-percentile risk score.
Where Pukalani's buildings actually sit
USFS puts 81% of Pukalani's 2,675 buildings in the Indirect exposure zone, versus 19% Direct and 0% Minimal — a place where the fire doesn't need to reach the structure directly for embers to.
Where Pukalani ranks
Pukalani's 88th national percentile looks worse in isolation than its 36th ranking inside Hawaii does — this place is on the milder end for its own state, by 52 points. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Pukalani ranks 3,782 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 5,971 by building count (1 is largest). Within Hawaii alone, it ranks 107 of 163 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Hawaii on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Pukalani
At the 88th percentile nationally, Pukalani carries the very 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.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in Pukalani (81% Indirect), vent screens and roofing material tend to matter more than lot clearing alone. The home-hardening guide covers both.
More on how this number was built
Every one of the two percentiles behind Pukalani's 3,782-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Pukalani, see the exposure-zones guide.