Velma, OK
Velma wildfire risk explained
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Velma at the 94th national percentile for risk to structures, in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — a score built from 480 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Velma at the 94th national percentile — 0 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Velma's building exposure, zone by zone
Indirect exposure is dominant in Velma (60% of 480 buildings): far enough from burnable vegetation to avoid flame contact, close enough for wind-blown embers. Only 40% sit in the Direct zone.
How Velma compares
Velma ranks lower within Oklahoma (70th percentile statewide) than its 94th national percentile suggests alone — a calmer spot in a state where wildfire risk generally runs high. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Velma ranks 1,993 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 17,712 by building count (1 is largest). Within Oklahoma alone, it ranks 252 of 834 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Oklahoma on its state page.
Velma and the insurance market
Velma's very high rating (94th percentile) puts it among the places where the national carrier-pullback trend is most relevant — not a guarantee of a coverage problem, but a reason to shop rather than assume.
What would actually reduce this score
Velma's 60% Indirect-exposure share points at embers, not flame contact, as the main pathway — ember-resistant vents and non-combustible roofing rank ahead of defensible space here. Detail in the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
Velma's 94th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Velma, see the exposure-zones guide.