Sutton-Alpine, AK
Sutton-Alpine wildfire risk explained
USFS scores Sutton-Alpine at the 44th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (modestly above the national average for wildfire risk), a figure built from 764 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 Sutton-Alpine at the 43rd percentile, close to its 44th-percentile risk score.
Where Sutton-Alpine's buildings actually sit
764 buildings are counted in Sutton-Alpine, and 98.7% of them sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone — flame contact, not just ember cast, is the live possibility for most of them, against 0.4% rated Minimal.
How Sutton-Alpine compares
Sutton-Alpine's risk sits at a similar level relative to Alaska (33rd percentile statewide) as it does nationally (44th) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Sutton-Alpine ranks 17,668 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 13,971 by building count (1 is largest). Within Alaska alone, it ranks 215 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
Sutton-Alpine's elevated rating (44th 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
Because Direct exposure dominates in Sutton-Alpine (98.7%), the highest-leverage fix is defensible space, not roofing or vents alone — covered in the home-hardening guide.
Where Sutton-Alpine's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Sutton-Alpine's 17,668-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Sutton-Alpine's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.