Waialua, HI
How exposed is Waialua to wildfire?
Out of every US place USFS scores, Waialua lands at the 97th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — a figure built from its 1,618 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Waialua at the 96th percentile, close to its 97th-percentile risk score.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
USFS puts 84.2% of Waialua's 1,618 buildings in the Indirect exposure zone, versus 4.6% Direct and 11.1% Minimal — a place where the fire doesn't need to reach the structure directly for embers to.
Where Waialua ranks
Waialua's risk sits at a similar level relative to Hawaii (91st percentile statewide) as it does nationally (97th) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Waialua ranks 846 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 8,700 by building count (1 is largest). Within Hawaii alone, it ranks 16 of 163 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Hawaii on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Waialua
Waialua's very high rating (97th 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
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in Waialua (84.2% Indirect), vent screens and roofing material tend to matter more than lot clearing alone. The home-hardening guide covers both.
Where Waialua's figures come from
Waialua's 97th-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 Waialua's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.