Whittier, AK
Whittier wildfire risk explained
Whittier's 78 buildings earn a 12th-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Whittier at the 12th percentile, close to its 12th-percentile risk score.
Where Whittier's buildings actually sit
Indirect exposure is dominant in Whittier (69.2% of 78 buildings): far enough from burnable vegetation to avoid flame contact, close enough for wind-blown embers. Only 15.4% sit in the Direct zone.
Where Whittier ranks
Whittier scores 12th nationally and 17th within Alaska — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Whittier ranks 27,692 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 29,953 by building count (1 is largest). Within Alaska alone, it ranks 269 of 322 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Alaska on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Whittier's low wildfire rating (12th 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.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Because 69.2% of Whittier'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.
More on how this number was built
Whittier's 12th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Whittier, see the exposure-zones guide.