Selawik, AK
Selawik wildfire risk explained
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Selawik at the 32nd national percentile for risk to structures, close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range — a score built from 224 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Selawik at the 38th national percentile — 5 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Where Selawik's buildings actually sit
USFS puts 46.9% of Selawik's 224 buildings in the Indirect exposure zone, versus 38.4% Direct and 14.7% Minimal — a place where the fire doesn't need to reach the structure directly for embers to.
Selawik against the rest of the country
Selawik's risk sits at a similar level relative to Alaska (27th percentile statewide) as it does nationally (32nd) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Selawik ranks 21,294 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 23,971 by building count (1 is largest). Within Alaska alone, it ranks 237 of 322 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Alaska on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Selawik's moderate rating (32nd percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
What would actually reduce this score
Selawik's 46.9% 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.
Where Selawik's figures come from
Selawik's 32nd-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 Selawik's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.