Taft, LA
How exposed is Taft to wildfire?
Taft sits at the 24th percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 698 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Taft at the 21st national percentile — 2 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
USFS puts 93.1% of Taft's 698 buildings in the Indirect exposure zone, versus 6.9% Direct and 0% Minimal — a place where the fire doesn't need to reach the structure directly for embers to.
How Taft compares
Taft's risk sits at a similar level relative to Louisiana (24th percentile statewide) as it does nationally (24th) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Taft ranks 24,017 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 14,671 by building count (1 is largest). Within Louisiana alone, it ranks 370 of 488 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Louisiana on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
At the 24th national percentile, Taft rates moderate for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in Taft (93.1% Indirect), vent screens and roofing material tend to matter more than lot clearing alone. The home-hardening guide covers both.
Where Taft's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Taft's 24,017-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Taft's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.