Pupukea, HI
Pupukea, HI's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Pupukea sits at the 98th 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 2,260 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Pupukea's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 97th percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Indirect exposure is dominant in Pupukea (68.9% of 2,260 buildings): far enough from burnable vegetation to avoid flame contact, close enough for wind-blown embers. Only 30.7% sit in the Direct zone.
Where Pupukea ranks
Pupukea scores 98th nationally and 93rd within Hawaii — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Pupukea ranks 757 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 6,794 by building count (1 is largest). Within Hawaii alone, it ranks 13 of 163 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Hawaii on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Pupukea's 98th-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.
What would actually reduce this score
Pupukea's 68.9% Indirect-exposure share points at embers, not flame contact, as the main pathway — ember-resistant vents and non-combustible roofing rank ahead of defensible space here. Detail in the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
Pupukea's 98th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Pupukea, see the exposure-zones guide.