Rippey, IA
How exposed is Rippey to wildfire?
Rippey sits at the 9th percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 234 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Rippey at the 7th national percentile — 1 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Rippey's building exposure, zone by zone
USFS classifies 80.8% of Rippey's buildings as Minimal exposure, the largest of the three zones here by a wide margin over 19.2% Direct and 0% Indirect — a landscape-level risk rather than a building-by-building one.
Where Rippey ranks
Rippey scores 9th nationally and 18th within Iowa — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Rippey ranks 28,805 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 23,663 by building count (1 is largest). Within Iowa alone, it ranks 839 of 1,017 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Iowa on its state page.
Rippey and the insurance market
At the 9th national percentile, Rippey rates low for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
What would actually reduce this score
Even with 80.8% of Rippey outside USFS's Direct and Indirect zones, basic hardening — gutter maintenance, ember-resistant vents — is inexpensive relative to the regional burn-probability risk noted above. Details in the home-hardening guide.
Where Rippey's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 234 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Rippey. The exposure-zones guide covers what Rippey's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.