Steele Creek, AK
Steele Creek wildfire risk explained
USFS scores Steele Creek at the 98th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally), a figure built from 3,252 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Steele Creek at the 98th national percentile — 0 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Where Steele Creek's buildings actually sit
Direct exposure dominates in Steele Creek: 96.5% of its 3,252 buildings, versus 3.5% Indirect and 0% Minimal. Clearing space around a structure changes the outcome here more than any single building-material swap.
How Steele Creek compares
Steele Creek scores 98th nationally and 95th within Alaska — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Steele Creek ranks 618 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 5,097 by building count (1 is largest). Within Alaska alone, it ranks 20 of 322 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Alaska on its state page.
Steele Creek and the insurance market
At the 98th percentile nationally, Steele Creek 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 Steele Creek
Because Direct exposure dominates in Steele Creek (96.5%), the highest-leverage fix is defensible space, not roofing or vents alone — covered in the home-hardening guide.
Where Steele Creek's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Steele Creek's 618-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Steele Creek's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.