Sabula, IA
Sabula wildfire risk explained
Sabula sits at the 47th percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 457 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Sabula at the 47th national percentile — 0 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
USFS puts 94.3% of Sabula's 457 buildings in the Indirect exposure zone, versus 2.8% Direct and 2.8% Minimal — a place where the fire doesn't need to reach the structure directly for embers to.
Sabula against the rest of the country
Compare Sabula's two percentiles: 65th within Iowa, only 47th nationally — a gap of 17 points that marks it as unusually exposed for its own state. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Sabula ranks 16,636 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 18,124 by building count (1 is largest). Within Iowa alone, it ranks 361 of 1,017 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Iowa on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Sabula
Sabula's elevated rating (47th percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
Hardening a home in Sabula
Sabula's 94.3% 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.
Where Sabula's figures come from
Sabula's 47th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Sabula's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.