Walla Walla, WA
Walla Walla wildfire risk explained
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Walla Walla at the 57th national percentile for risk to structures, modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — a score built from 13,313 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Walla Walla's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 60th percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Most of Walla Walla's buildings (81.7% of 13,313) fall outside USFS's Direct and Indirect zones entirely — that doesn't zero out the score above, it means the risk is regional, not structure-by-structure. At 13,313 buildings, this is a substantial built environment, so the shares below describe a real population of structures, not a handful of edge cases.
How Walla Walla compares
There's little gap between Walla Walla's 57th national percentile and its 66th percentile inside Washington, which means the state comparison mostly confirms what the national score already shows. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Walla Walla ranks 13,412 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 1,141 by building count (1 is largest). Within Washington alone, it ranks 217 of 628 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Washington on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Walla Walla
At the 57th national percentile, Walla Walla rates elevated for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
What would actually reduce this score
Even with 81.7% of Walla Walla 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 Walla Walla's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Walla Walla's 13,412-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Walla Walla's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.