Wautec, CA
Wautec wildfire risk explained
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Wautec at the 84th national percentile for risk to structures, in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — a score built from 31 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Wautec's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 83rd percentile nationally.
Wautec's building exposure, zone by zone
USFS classifies 90.3% of Wautec's buildings as Direct exposure, higher than its 9.7% Indirect share and far above its 0% Minimal share — a profile where 28 structures sit close enough to vegetation that lot clearing matters most.
Where Wautec ranks
Wautec ranks lower within California (47th percentile statewide) than its 84th national percentile suggests alone — a calmer spot in a state where wildfire risk generally runs high. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Wautec ranks 5,098 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 31,340 by building count (1 is largest). Within California alone, it ranks 838 of 1,570 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for California on its state page.
Wautec and the insurance market
Wautec 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 84th-percentile score like Wautec's can end up mattering for. More on the disclosure law.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Wautec's 90.3% Direct-exposure share means lot clearing around the structure typically outweighs any single material upgrade here. The home-hardening guide ranks the options for a place shaped like this.
Where Wautec's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Wautec's 5,098-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Wautec's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.