Waterproof, LA
Waterproof wildfire risk explained
Out of every US place USFS scores, Waterproof lands at the 37th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range — a figure built from its 456 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Waterproof at the 37th national percentile — 0 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Indirect exposure is dominant in Waterproof (56.4% of 456 buildings): far enough from burnable vegetation to avoid flame contact, close enough for wind-blown embers. Only 43.6% sit in the Direct zone.
Where Waterproof ranks
There's little gap between Waterproof's 37th national percentile and its 35th percentile inside Louisiana, which means the state comparison mostly confirms what the national score already shows. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Waterproof ranks 19,882 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 18,155 by building count (1 is largest). Within Louisiana alone, it ranks 318 of 488 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Louisiana on its state page.
Waterproof and the insurance market
Waterproof's moderate wildfire rating (37th 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.
What would actually reduce this score
Waterproof's 56.4% Indirect-exposure share points at embers, not flame contact, as the main pathway — ember-resistant vents and non-combustible roofing rank ahead of defensible space here. Detail in the home-hardening guide.
Where Waterproof's figures come from
Waterproof's 37th-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 Waterproof's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.