Punaluu, HI
How exposed is Punaluu to wildfire?
Punaluu sits at the 94th 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 490 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Punaluu's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 92nd percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
USFS puts 70.2% of Punaluu's 490 buildings in the Indirect exposure zone, versus 22% Direct and 7.8% Minimal — a place where the fire doesn't need to reach the structure directly for embers to.
Where Punaluu ranks
Punaluu's 94th national percentile looks worse in isolation than its 73rd ranking inside Hawaii does — this place is on the milder end for its own state, by 22 points. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Punaluu ranks 1,757 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 17,524 by building count (1 is largest). Within Hawaii alone, it ranks 45 of 163 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Hawaii on its state page.
Punaluu and the insurance market
At the 94th percentile nationally, Punaluu 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.
Hardening a home in Punaluu
Because 70.2% of Punaluu'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 Punaluu's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Punaluu's 1,757-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Punaluu's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.