Waldo, OH
Waldo wildfire risk explained
Waldo sits at the 4th percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 281 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Waldo's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 4th percentile nationally.
Waldo's building exposure, zone by zone
USFS classifies 71.5% of Waldo's buildings as Minimal exposure, the largest of the three zones here by a wide margin over 28.5% Direct and 0% Indirect — a landscape-level risk rather than a building-by-building one.
Waldo against the rest of the country
Waldo's 20th-percentile standing inside Ohio outpaces its 4th national percentile — this is a hotter spot than most of its own state, even though the state as a whole runs cooler nationally. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Waldo ranks 30,369 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 22,161 by building count (1 is largest). Within Ohio alone, it ranks 1,009 of 1,264 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Ohio on its state page.
Waldo and the insurance market
Waldo's low wildfire rating (4th percentile) isn't the kind of score driving the carrier pullback making news in the highest-risk Western markets — but a standard homeowners quote is still worth comparing on its own terms.
Hardening a home in Waldo
Even with 71.5% of Waldo outside USFS's Direct and Indirect zones, basic hardening — gutter maintenance, ember-resistant vents — is inexpensive relative to the regional burn-probability risk noted above. Details in the home-hardening guide.
Where Waldo's figures come from
Waldo's 4th-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 Waldo's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.