Rathbun, IA
How exposed is Rathbun to wildfire?
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Rathbun at the 74th national percentile for risk to structures, well above the national norm for wildfire risk — a score built from 79 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Rathbun's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 76th percentile nationally.
Where Rathbun's buildings actually sit
Direct exposure dominates in Rathbun: 78.5% of its 79 buildings, versus 21.5% Indirect and 0% Minimal. Clearing space around a structure changes the outcome here more than any single building-material swap.
Where Rathbun ranks
Within Iowa, Rathbun ranks higher (97th percentile) than it does nationally (74th) — one of the more fire-exposed places in a state that, overall, scores lower than that. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Rathbun ranks 8,096 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 29,919 by building count (1 is largest). Within Iowa alone, it ranks 30 of 1,017 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Iowa on its state page.
Rathbun and the insurance market
Rathbun's 74th-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.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
With 78.5% of Rathbun in Direct exposure, defensible-space clearing and ember-resistant construction (vents, Class-A roofing) address the exposure this page's own numbers describe, not a generic checklist. See the home-hardening guide.
Where Rathbun's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 79 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Rathbun. The exposure-zones guide covers what Rathbun's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.