Salida, CO
Salida, CO's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Out of every US place USFS scores, Salida lands at the 82nd percentile for wildfire risk to structures — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — a figure built from its 4,169 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Salida at the 75th national percentile — 7 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Where Salida's buildings actually sit
USFS puts 93.9% of Salida's 4,169 buildings in the Indirect exposure zone, versus 6.1% Direct and 0% Minimal — a place where the fire doesn't need to reach the structure directly for embers to.
Salida against the rest of the country
Salida's 82nd national percentile looks worse in isolation than its 58th ranking inside Colorado does — this place is on the milder end for its own state, by 24 points. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Salida ranks 5,698 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 4,082 by building count (1 is largest). Within Colorado alone, it ranks 198 of 472 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Colorado on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Salida
At the 82nd percentile nationally, Salida 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.
What would actually reduce this score
Because 93.9% of Salida'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 Salida's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 4,169 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Salida. The exposure-zones guide covers what Salida's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.