Tonsina, AK
How exposed is Tonsina to wildfire?
Out of every US place USFS scores, Tonsina lands at the 93rd percentile for wildfire risk to structures — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — a figure built from its 80 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Tonsina at the 91st 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
Direct exposure dominates in Tonsina: 100% of its 80 buildings, versus 0% Indirect and 0% Minimal. Clearing space around a structure changes the outcome here more than any single building-material swap.
Where Tonsina ranks
There's little gap between Tonsina's 93rd national percentile and its 81st percentile inside Alaska, which means the state comparison mostly confirms what the national score already shows. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Tonsina ranks 2,162 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 29,869 by building count (1 is largest). Within Alaska alone, it ranks 63 of 322 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Alaska on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Tonsina
At the 93rd percentile nationally, Tonsina 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.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Tonsina's 100% Direct-exposure share means lot clearing around the structure typically outweighs any single material upgrade here. The home-hardening guide ranks the options for a place shaped like this.
Where Tonsina's figures come from
Tonsina's 93rd-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Tonsina's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.