Wapello, IA
Wapello wildfire risk explained
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Wapello at the 56th national percentile for risk to structures, modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — a score built from 1,234 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Wapello at the 56th percentile, close to its 56th-percentile risk score.
Wapello's building exposure, zone by zone
Indirect exposure is dominant in Wapello (94.3% of 1,234 buildings): far enough from burnable vegetation to avoid flame contact, close enough for wind-blown embers. Only 4.6% sit in the Direct zone.
How Wapello compares
Compare Wapello's two percentiles: 78th within Iowa, only 56th nationally — a gap of 21 points that marks it as unusually exposed for its own state. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Wapello ranks 13,703 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 10,443 by building count (1 is largest). Within Iowa alone, it ranks 227 of 1,017 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Iowa on its state page.
Wapello and the insurance market
Wapello's elevated rating (56th percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
What would actually reduce this score
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in Wapello (94.3% Indirect), vent screens and roofing material tend to matter more than lot clearing alone. The home-hardening guide covers both.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 1,234 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Wapello. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Wapello, see the exposure-zones guide.