Sitka, AK
How exposed is Sitka to wildfire?
USFS scores Sitka at the 8th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally), a figure built from 3,666 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Sitka at the 8th percentile, close to its 8th-percentile risk score.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
3,666 buildings are counted in Sitka, and 55.1% of them are Indirect exposure — ember-driven risk rather than the 40.5% in Direct exposure or the 4.5% rated Minimal.
Where Sitka ranks
Sitka's risk sits at a similar level relative to Alaska (11th percentile statewide) as it does nationally (8th) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Sitka ranks 28,922 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 4,568 by building count (1 is largest). Within Alaska alone, it ranks 288 of 322 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Alaska on its state page.
Sitka and the insurance market
Sitka's low wildfire rating (8th percentile) isn't the kind of score driving the carrier pullback making news in the highest-risk Western markets — but a standard homeowners quote is still worth comparing on its own terms.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Sitka's 55.1% 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.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 3,666 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Sitka. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Sitka, see the exposure-zones guide.