St. Lucas, IA
How exposed is St. Lucas to wildfire?
St. Lucas sits at the 14th percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 140 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, St. Lucas's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 14th percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
70% of St. Lucas's 140 buildings sit in USFS's Minimal exposure zone, with only 30% rated Direct — risk here comes from regional burn probability more than proximity to burnable vegetation at the structure itself.
St. Lucas against the rest of the country
St. Lucas scores 14th nationally and 25th within Iowa — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, St. Lucas ranks 26,944 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 27,285 by building count (1 is largest). Within Iowa alone, it ranks 769 of 1,017 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Iowa on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
St. Lucas's low wildfire rating (14th 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.
What would actually reduce this score
Even with 70% of St. Lucas outside USFS's Direct and Indirect zones, basic hardening — gutter maintenance, ember-resistant vents — is inexpensive relative to the regional burn-probability risk noted above. Details in the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
St. Lucas's 14th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. For more on what minimal exposure implies beyond St. Lucas, see the exposure-zones guide.