Washington, CA
Washington wildfire risk explained
Washington sits at the 100th percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 115 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Washington at the 100th percentile, close to its 100th-percentile risk score.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Of Washington's 115 counted buildings, 93.9% carry Direct exposure and only 0% carry Minimal — a lopsided split that puts defensible-space clearing ahead of vents or roofing as the intervention worth doing first.
Washington against the rest of the country
There's little gap between Washington's 100th national percentile and its 99th percentile inside California, which means the state comparison mostly confirms what the national score already shows. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Washington ranks 38 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 28,399 by building count (1 is largest). Within California alone, it ranks 27 of 1,570 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for California on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Washington sits in California, one of two states that legally require a wildfire-risk disclosure at sale. California's FAIR Plan, the state's insurer of last resort, ended 2025 with 668,609 residential policies after adding 21,859 in Q4 alone — the kind of market shift a 100th-percentile score like Washington's can end up mattering for. More on the disclosure law.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Because Direct exposure dominates in Washington (93.9%), the highest-leverage fix is defensible space, not roofing or vents alone — covered in the home-hardening guide.
Where Washington's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 115 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Washington. The exposure-zones guide covers what Washington's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.