Washington, KS
Washington wildfire risk explained
Out of every US place USFS scores, Washington lands at the 72nd percentile for wildfire risk to structures — well above the national norm for wildfire risk — a figure built from its 947 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Washington's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 63rd percentile nationally.
Washington's building exposure, zone by zone
USFS classifies 88.6% of Washington's buildings as Minimal exposure, the largest of the three zones here by a wide margin over 11.4% Direct and 0% Indirect — a landscape-level risk rather than a building-by-building one.
Washington against the rest of the country
Washington scores 72nd nationally and 70th within Kansas — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Washington ranks 8,787 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 12,324 by building count (1 is largest). Within Kansas alone, it ranks 219 of 721 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Kansas on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Washington's 72nd-percentile, high rating is the kind of score behind a broader national pattern: insurers pulling back from the highest wildfire-risk markets, non-renewing or declining new policies outright, most visibly in California. Shopping around, not assuming automatic renewal, tends to matter here.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Even with 88.6% of Washington 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 Washington's figures come from
Washington's 72nd-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 Washington's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.