Westwego, LA
How exposed is Westwego to wildfire?
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Westwego at the 51st national percentile for risk to structures, modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — a score built from 4,470 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Westwego's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 43rd percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Most of Westwego's buildings (55.3%) sit in the Indirect zone, where wind-blown embers rather than flame front are the mechanism USFS is scoring — ember-resistant vents and non-combustible roofing are the interventions this pattern favors, more than defensible space alone.
How Westwego compares
Westwego's risk sits at a similar level relative to Louisiana (60th percentile statewide) as it does nationally (51st) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Westwego ranks 15,503 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 3,819 by building count (1 is largest). Within Louisiana alone, it ranks 197 of 488 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Louisiana on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Westwego's elevated rating (51st 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
Because 55.3% of Westwego's buildings sit in the Indirect zone, sealing the ember pathway (vents, roofing, gutters) is the intervention this page's data actually supports — see the home-hardening guide.
Where Westwego's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Westwego's 15,503-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Westwego's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.