{
  "title": "Wildfire Risk in Colusa County, CA 2026 | Satelife",
  "description": "Wildfire risk in Colusa County spans a wide range across the places we scored. The lowest score is 18.6 in Williams, the highest is 83.5 near Williams, and the middle score is 37.2.",
  "image": "https://satelife.ai/images/wildfire-risk/colusa-county/generated/colusa-county-locator.webp",
  "canonical": "https://satelife.ai/wildfire-risk/california/colusa-county/",
  "content": "[Home](/)›[Wildfire Risk](/wildfire-risk/)›[California](/wildfire-risk/california/)›Colusa County\n\nColusa County, California\n\n# Wildfire risk in Colusa County: _where it is highest_, and why\n\nWildfire risk in Colusa County spans a wide range across the places we scored. The lowest score is 18.6 in Williams, the highest is 83.5 near Williams, and the middle score is 37.2.\n\n[Score my Colusa County address →](#score-my-address) [How risky is this county? ↓](#risk-at-a-glance)\n\nBefore 20002000s2010s2020sCommunity\n\nColusa County — the largest fires on record, at their perimeter centres, with the county’s main communities. Select a marker for its detail.\n\nAt a glance\n\n## Half of Colusa County scores _Moderate_ or worse\n\nWe scored 154 points across Colusa County on the same 0–100 scale a Satelife address report uses, and they do not land in one place. 10% of them come out Very High, while 26% are Low. Which end your own parcel sits at is not something a county map can tell you.\n\n10%\n\n36%\n\n28%\n\n26%\n\n**Very High** 10% · 16 of 154 points **High** 36% · 55 of 154 points **Moderate** 28% · 43 of 154 points **Low** 26% · 40 of 154 points\n\nSafest end we measured 18.6 near Williams · Low\n\nMiddle of the county 37.2 Moderate — half of Colusa County is above this\n\nMost exposed end we measured 83.5 near Williams · Very High\n\n### And the federal models agree it is a fire county\n\nRelatively Moderate FEMA National Risk Index — wildfire risk rating · index score 89.1 / 100\n\n$1.1M / yr FEMA NRI — expected annual loss from wildfire · rated Relatively Moderate\n\n1.70% USFS Wildfire Risk to Communities — mean annual burn probability · 90th-percentile cell 4.18%\n\n5.38 ft USFS WRC — mean conditional flame length · 85% of the county carries burnable fuel\n\nFEMA NRI also rates Colusa County: all-hazards risk Relatively Moderate · social vulnerability Relatively Moderate · community resilience Relatively Low · annualised wildfire frequency 0.0051.\n\nSources: FEMA National Risk Index 1.20.0 (Dec 2025), county record · USFS Wildfire Risk to Communities v2.0, mean of the grid cells inside the county. Both describe the county as a whole, never an address in it.\n\nWhat does your Colusa County address score?\n\nA county range shows the spread. Your parcel sits somewhere inside it — the report says where, and what to do about it.\n\nFree to request · PDF report with a 0–100 score, the drivers behind it, and a mitigation plan\n\nLocal context\n\n## What the data says about _Colusa County_\n\nLooking at the four address-style tiers, High has the most scored points, with 55. Very High has 16 points, so those areas are present but not the majority.\n\nFor countywide context, FEMA’s National Risk Index rates Colusa County’s wildfire risk as Relatively Moderate. FEMA also rates the county’s expected annual wildfire loss as Relatively Moderate.\n\nFire record\n\n## Where the fires _actually were_\n\nSince 1984, 195,498 acres have burned within county fire perimeters, and that equals 26.6% of the county. There have been 38 fire perimeters in that period.\n\nThe largest named large fire in the county summary is the Fork fire (1996), at 83,057 acres.\n\nThe most recent large fire is the Sites fire (2024), at 19,195 acres.\n\n![Ranch Fire (2018) in Colusa County, California - In a year of record-breaking fires, California scored another record on August 7, 2018, when the Mendocino Complex burst into the ](/images/wildfire-risk/colusa-county/photos/california-wildfires-modis-2018-08-08.webp)\n\n**Ranch Fire, 2018** — Colusa County. Photo: MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC · [Public domain](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:California_Wildfires_\\(MODIS_2018-08-08\\).jpg)\n\n![Sites Fire (2024) in Colusa County, California - The Sites Fire first ignited on June 17, 2024, at approximately 1:40 p.m. PDT (2040 UTC) near Sites Lodoga Road and Wilson Creek, ](/images/wildfire-risk/colusa-county/photos/sites-fire-sears-northern-california-modis-2024-06-20.webp)\n\n**Sites Fire, 2024** — Colusa County. Photo: MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC · [Public domain](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sites_Fire_Sears_Northern_California_\\(MODIS_2024-06-20\\).jpg)\n\n38 mapped fire perimeters centred in the county since 1984\n\n195,498 acres inside those perimeters since 1984\n\n26.6% of the county's area, as a share of 2,979.2 km²\n\nSites 2024 most recent large fire on record\n\nBefore 20002000s2010s2020s \n\nFire perimeters coloured by decade. Select a perimeter for its name, year and size.\n\nNamed fires on record\n\n-   **Ranch Fire**2018410,202 acres in totalcrossed into the county\n-   **Fork Fire**199683,057 acres\n-   **Mill Fire**201229,525 acres\n-   **Sites Fire**202419,195 acres\n-   **Sixteen Fire**201217,942 acres\n-   **Little Stoney Fire**195017,367 acres\n-   **Cortina Ridge Fire**196616,323 acres\n-   **Walker Wye Fire**20127,934 acres\n\nPerimeter sources: NIFC Interagency Fire Perimeter History · WFIGS Interagency Perimeters · largest on record: Fork 1996. Perimeters are simplified for display; acreage is the figure the source records.\n\nCommunities\n\n## Where in the county you are _matters most_\n\nAmong the named communities shown here, Maxwell has the highest middle wildfire risk score at 30.5. Colusa is close at 29.6, while Williams is lower at 23.6.\n\nPrinceton’s middle score is 25.1, between Williams and Colusa. In population terms, Colusa (6,060) and Williams (4,723) are the two largest communities listed here.\n\nMaxwell village · 1,103 people\n\n30.5 _Moderate_\n\nColusa town · 6,060 people\n\n29.6 _Moderate_\n\nPrinceton village\n\n25.1 _Moderate_\n\nWilliams village · 4,723 people\n\n23.6 _Low_\n\nThe score is the median of the sampled points nearest that community — a community-scale indicator, not a score for any individual property in it. Population comes from the community's own record where the source carries one.\n\nTerrain & fuels\n\n## Terrain, vegetation and _fuels_\n\nTerrain scores are low in many scored places: the middle value is 20.0, and a low point of 20.0 appears near Williams. The terrain high point is 65.0 near Maxwell.\n\nVegetation and fuels are more elevated than terrain in many locations. The middle vegetation-and-fuels score is 55.0, with a high of 80.0 near Williams and a low of 20.0 in Williams.\n\n20 median terrain score (max 65 near Maxwell)\n\n55 median vegetation & fuels score (max 80 near Williams)\n\nFire weather\n\n## Fire weather across _Colusa County_\n\nFire weather was measured across the county, and scores are consistently high. Values run from 64.6 in unincorporated Colusa County to 73.4 in Princeton, with a middle value of 65.2.\n\nA separate national model from the USFS Wildfire Risk to Communities reports a mean annual burn probability of 1.70% and a 90th-percentile cell burn probability of 4.18%. It also shows 85.4% of the county as land that can burn; this is a burn-probability model, not a fire-weather rating.\n\n64.6 lowest fire-weather score — near unincorporated Colusa County\n\n73.4 highest fire-weather score — near Princeton\n\nWhat drives it\n\n## Which part of the risk _moves_, and which doesn't\n\nRisk is not even from place to place in the county. The overall score reaches 83.5 near Williams, while Williams also contains the county low point at 18.6.\n\nHazard zone scores also vary sharply, from 10.0 near Williams up to 95.8 near Williams, with a middle value of 35.4.\n\nFire history scores run from 5.0 near Williams to 95.0 near Maxwell, with a middle value of 30.0.\n\nEach bar is what one part of the score covers across Colusa County, on the same 0–100 scale. A long bar is a part of the risk that depends on where you are; a short one is the same almost everywhere.\n\nTerrain\n\n20–65 highest near Maxwell\n\nVegetation & fuels\n\n20–80 highest near Williams\n\nHazard zone\n\n10–95.8 highest near Williams\n\nFire history\n\n5–95 highest near Maxwell\n\nFire weather\n\n64.6–73.4 highest near Princeton\n\nOverall score\n\n18.6–83.5 highest near Williams\n\nThe tick on each bar is the middle value. Tier boundaries — Moderate at 25, High at 50, Very High at 75 — are the faint lines behind them.\n\nShow every number behind these bars\n\nLayer\n\nMin\n\nMedian\n\nMax\n\nLowest place\n\nHighest place\n\nPoints\n\nTerrain\n\n20\n\n20\n\n65\n\nnear Williams\n\nnear Maxwell\n\n154\n\nVegetation & fuels\n\n20\n\n55\n\n80\n\nWilliams\n\nnear Williams\n\n154\n\nHazard zone\n\n10\n\n35.4\n\n95.8\n\nnear Williams\n\nnear Williams\n\n154\n\nFire history\n\n5\n\n30\n\n95\n\nnear Williams\n\nnear Maxwell\n\n154\n\nFire weather\n\n64.6\n\n65.2\n\n73.4\n\nunincorporated Colusa County\n\nPrinceton\n\n154\n\nComposite\n\n18.6\n\n37.2\n\n83.5\n\nWilliams\n\nnear Williams\n\n154\n\nIndependently of Satelife's layers, the USFS Wildfire Risk to Communities grid puts the county's mean annual burn probability at **1.70%** (90th percentile cell: **4.18%**), with a mean conditional flame length of **5.38 ft**. **85%** of the 25,727 grid cells inside the county carry burnable fuel at all.\n\nSource: USFS Wildfire Risk to Communities v2.0 (ImageServer, county extent).\n\nCAL FIRE has no mapped Fire Hazard Severity Zone at **29** of the 154 sampled points — the zones cover Local Responsibility Areas. At **28** of them the USFS grid above supplied the hazard reading instead; at the remaining 1 the hazard weight is renormalised away rather than scored as low.\n\n154 sample points on a ~2.3 km grid, plus one at the centre of each community, weighted with the Satelife county profile v1 · median layer coverage 100%. Scores are 0–100 and comparable within the county, not across states.\n\nFor a property\n\n## What a county range means for _one address_\n\nProperty-specific features like roof type, vents, and defensible space were not measured at all in this county view.\n\nWhat this county view does show is how risk around properties can differ by location. High is the most common tier in the scored points (55), and Very High is also present (16).\n\nLocal context matters: one of the highest nearby scores is 83.5 near Williams, while a low point of 18.6 is in Williams. That spread is why parcel-level reports focus on the exact address and its immediate surroundings.\n\nAcross 154 sampled points in Colusa County, the score runs from 18.6 to 83.5 — two neighbouring parcels can sit in different tiers. A county number is the middle of that spread; it says nothing about which end yours is at.\n\nFind out where your Colusa County parcel sits\n\nSlope, the fuel touching the structure, the road out, the fire history within a mile — measured at your address, not averaged across the county.\n\nFree to request · PDF report with a 0–100 score, the drivers behind it, and a mitigation plan\n\nCoverage\n\n## ZIP codes we cover in Colusa County\n\nEvery one of the 18 ZIP areas that touch Colusa County — we run address-level reports in all of them. They are grouped by the median score of the points we sampled inside each, which is a neighbourhood-scale indicator and **not** a score for any property: two homes in the same ZIP routinely land in different tiers.\n\n**High** 2 ZIPs\n\n-   [95979 Maxwell71](/wildfire-risk/zip/95979/)\n-   [95987 Williams56](/wildfire-risk/zip/95987/)\n\n**Moderate** 4 ZIPs\n\n-   [95970 Princeton31](/wildfire-risk/zip/95970/)\n-   [95932 Colusa29](/wildfire-risk/zip/95932/)\n-   [95955 Maxwell29](/wildfire-risk/zip/95955/)\n-   [95912 Williams27](/wildfire-risk/zip/95912/)\n\n**Low** 3 ZIPs\n\n-   [95950 Colusa24](/wildfire-risk/zip/95950/)\n-   [95957 Colusa24](/wildfire-risk/zip/95957/)\n-   [95645 23](/wildfire-risk/zip/95645/)\n\n**No sampled point inside** 9 ZIPs\n\n[95423](/wildfire-risk/zip/95423/) · [95607](/wildfire-risk/zip/95607/) · [95917 Princeton](/wildfire-risk/zip/95917/) · [95920 Princeton](/wildfire-risk/zip/95920/) · [95937 Williams](/wildfire-risk/zip/95937/) · [95939](/wildfire-risk/zip/95939/) · [95948 Princeton](/wildfire-risk/zip/95948/) · [95953 Colusa](/wildfire-risk/zip/95953/) · [95988 Maxwell](/wildfire-risk/zip/95988/)\n\nGrouped from 9 of 18 ZIP areas — the rest had no sample point fall inside them. The community shown is the nearest mapped place to the ZIP's centre.\n\nZIP areas are Census 2020 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas intersecting the county boundary.\n\nWhere to go next\n\n## Colusa County wildfire risk _in context_\n\n[California wildfire risk The statewide picture and every county page we publish](/wildfire-risk/california/) [Wildfire risk by state Every state and county we cover](/wildfire-risk/) [How Satelife calculates wildfire risk Data sources, layers, score composition, honest limits](/wildfire-risk/methodology/) [Create a wildfire evacuation plan Zones, egress routes, refuge areas](/wildfire-evacuation-plan/) [Run a report for a Colusa County address PDF + score + mitigation plan](/#cta)\n\nFAQ\n\n## Frequently asked questions about _Colusa County wildfire risk_\n\nWhat is the latest large fire in Colusa County?\n\nThe most recent large fire is Sites (2024), at 19,195 acres. The largest named large fire in the county summary is Fork (1996), at 83,057 acres.\n\nHow much of the county has burned since 1984?\n\n26.6% of Colusa County has burned since 1984, totaling 195,498 acres within recorded fire perimeters.\n\nDoes most of the county fall in the highest risk tier?\n\nNo. High is the most common tier in the scored points (55), while Very High has 16 points.\n\nHow does FEMA rate wildfire risk for the county?\n\nFEMA’s National Risk Index rates Colusa County’s wildfire risk as Relatively Moderate, and its expected annual wildfire loss from wildfire as Relatively Moderate.\n\nIs the USFS burn probability the same thing as fire weather?\n\nNo. Fire weather scores in the county run from 64.6 to 73.4, while the USFS model reports burn probability (1.70% mean annual, 4.18% at the 90th-percentile cell). They are different measures.\n\nThis page is generated from a Colusa County data pack assembled on 2026-08-19 (pack v1.0). Scores are sampled across the county, not measured at any individual address, and are informational decision support — not a substitute for official evacuation orders, a fire-agency hazard determination, or an insurer's underwriting judgement. Data versions: fema\\_nri 1.20.0 (Dec 2025) · landfire per adapter · nifc\\_history All Years View · wfigs current · wrc v2.0 (2024) · zcta Census 2020.\n\n## What does _your parcel_ look like, layer by layer?\n\nA county range shows the spread. An address-level Satelife report shows where in that spread your property actually sits — PDF, per-layer score, and a prioritized mitigation plan.\n\n[Start with your address →](/#cta)\n\n[![PRR](/images/prr.png)](/ficha-de-website-voucher-satelife.pdf)\n\n© 2024–2026 Satelife, Lda. All rights reserved.\n\nSatelife reports are for informational purposes only and do not constitute insurance, financial, or legal advice."
}