South Wenatchee, WA
How exposed is South Wenatchee to wildfire?
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts South Wenatchee at the 98th national percentile for risk to structures, in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — a score built from 587 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, South Wenatchee's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 99th percentile nationally.
South Wenatchee's building exposure, zone by zone
Most of South Wenatchee's buildings (81.6%) sit in the Indirect zone, where wind-blown embers rather than flame front are the mechanism USFS is scoring — ember-resistant vents and non-combustible roofing are the interventions this pattern favors, more than defensible space alone.
How South Wenatchee compares
South Wenatchee scores 98th nationally and 96th within Washington — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, South Wenatchee ranks 614 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 16,015 by building count (1 is largest). Within Washington alone, it ranks 26 of 628 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Washington on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
At the 98th percentile nationally, South Wenatchee 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.
Hardening a home in South Wenatchee
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in South Wenatchee (81.6% Indirect), vent screens and roofing material tend to matter more than lot clearing alone. The home-hardening guide covers both.
More on how this number was built
South Wenatchee's 98th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond South Wenatchee, see the exposure-zones guide.