{
  "title": "Wildfire Risk in Humboldt County, CA 2026 | Satelife",
  "description": "Wildfire risk is not the same everywhere in Humboldt County. In the places we scored, overall risk runs from 12.7 near Shelter Cove to 78.9 near Myers Flat, with a county median of 53.8.",
  "image": "https://satelife.ai/images/wildfire-risk/humboldt-county/generated/humboldt-county-locator.webp",
  "canonical": "https://satelife.ai/wildfire-risk/california/humboldt-county/",
  "content": "[Home](/)›[Wildfire Risk](/wildfire-risk/)›[California](/wildfire-risk/california/)›Humboldt County\n\nHumboldt County, California\n\n# Wildfire risk in Humboldt County: _where it is highest_, and why\n\nWildfire risk is not the same everywhere in Humboldt County. In the places we scored, overall risk runs from 12.7 near Shelter Cove to 78.9 near Myers Flat, with a county median of 53.8.\n\n[Score my Humboldt County address →](#score-my-address) [How risky is this county? ↓](#risk-at-a-glance)\n\nBefore 20002000s2010s2020sCommunity\n\nHumboldt 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 Humboldt County scores _High_ or worse\n\nWe scored 176 points across Humboldt County on the same 0–100 scale a Satelife address report uses, and they do not land in one place. 7% of them come out Very High, while 15% are Low. Which end your own parcel sits at is not something a county map can tell you.\n\n52%\n\n25%\n\n15%\n\n**Very High** 7% · 13 of 176 points **High** 52% · 92 of 176 points **Moderate** 25% · 44 of 176 points **Low** 15% · 27 of 176 points\n\nSafest end we measured 12.7 near Shelter Cove · Low\n\nMiddle of the county 53.8 High — half of Humboldt County is above this\n\nMost exposed end we measured 78.9 near Myers Flat · 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 95.5 / 100\n\n$3.0M / yr FEMA NRI — expected annual loss from wildfire · rated Relatively Moderate\n\n0.47% USFS Wildfire Risk to Communities — mean annual burn probability · 90th-percentile cell 1.46%\n\n4.98 ft USFS WRC — mean conditional flame length · 79% of the county carries burnable fuel\n\nFEMA NRI also rates Humboldt County: all-hazards risk Relatively High · social vulnerability Relatively High · community resilience Relatively Moderate · annualised wildfire frequency 0.0017.\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 Humboldt 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 _Humboldt County_\n\nMost scored locations fall in the High tier: 92 points are High, compared with 44 Moderate and 27 Low. There are also 13 Very High points, so higher-exposure pockets are present.\n\nSince 1984, 308,768 acres have burned in the county, which equals 12% of county land area. That burn history is a major part of how risk looks on the map today.\n\nFire record\n\n## Where the fires _actually were_\n\nThe county’s largest fire listing is Megram (1999), at 125,072 acres. The most recent large fire listed for the county is Mp18 (2026).\n\nOther major fires tied to Humboldt County include Red (2020), which burned partly in the county, and Campbell (2022), also partly in the county at 30,133 acres. The county record also shows 289 fire perimeters since 1984.\n\nTaken together, those events add up to 308,768 acres burned since 1984, or 12% of the county.\n\n![Campbell Fire (2022) in Humboldt County, California - Campbell Fire as seen from Willow Creek, California.](/images/wildfire-risk/humboldt-county/photos/2022-08-09-09-22-18-255-cdt.webp)\n\n**Campbell Fire, 2022** — Humboldt County. Photo: Unknown author Unknown author · [Public domain](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2022_08_09-09.22.18.255-CDT.jpg)\n\n289 mapped fire perimeters centred in the county since 1984\n\n308,768 acres inside those perimeters since 1984\n\n12.0% of the county's area, as a share of 10,427.6 km²\n\nMp18 2026 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-   **Megram Fire**1999125,072 acres\n-   **Red Fire**2020143,887 acres in totalcrossed into the county\n-   **Campbell Fire**202230,133 acres in totalcrossed into the county\n-   **Ammon Fire**202211,465 acres\n-   **Half Fire**200815,130 acres\n-   **Corral Fire**201312,541 acres\n-   **Blake Fire**201511,439 acres\n-   **Healy Logging Co. Fire**195522,509 acres\n\nPerimeter sources: NIFC Interagency Fire Perimeter History · WFIGS Interagency Perimeters · largest on record: Megram 1999. 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 larger population centers, Eureka (18.2), Arcata (20.0), and McKinleyville (30.0) are lower than many inland communities. Fortuna is higher at 39.3.\n\nSeveral smaller inland communities score much higher, including Hoopa / na:tinixw at 64.6 and Myers Flat at 64.1. Garberville is 52.2, showing that mid-to-high exposure is common outside the lowest-scored coastal areas.\n\nThere are also moderate coastal and near-coastal results, such as Trinidad at 37.0 and Ferndale at 33.5. So community name alone is not enough; local conditions still matter.\n\nWillow Creek village · 1,700 people\n\n74.6 _High_\n\nOrleans;Panámnik village\n\n72 _High_\n\nHoopa / na:tinixw village\n\n64.6 _High_\n\nMyers Flat village · 146 people\n\n64.1 _High_\n\nMiranda village\n\n56.5 _High_\n\nScotia village · 681 people\n\n54.7 _High_\n\nGarberville village\n\n52.2 _High_\n\nPetrolia village · 600 people\n\n50.9 _High_\n\nBlue Lake village · 1,110 people\n\n47 _Moderate_\n\nFortuna town · 11,208 people\n\n39.3 _Moderate_\n\n16 more communities in Humboldt County\n\nRio Dell village · 3,173 people\n\n39.3 _Moderate_\n\nPine Hill village\n\n37.7 _Moderate_\n\nTrinidad village · 314 people\n\n37 _Moderate_\n\nRidgewood Heights village\n\n34.8 _Moderate_\n\nFerndale village · 1,396 people\n\n33.5 _Moderate_\n\nOrick village · 357 people\n\n30.3 _Moderate_\n\nMcKinleyville town · 15,177 people\n\n30 _Moderate_\n\nShelter Cove village\n\n28.4 _Moderate_\n\nLoleta village · 783 people\n\n27 _Moderate_\n\nCutten village · 3,223 people\n\n26.8 _Moderate_\n\nRosewood village\n\n25.8 _Moderate_\n\nHumboldt Hill village\n\n25 _Moderate_\n\nBayview village\n\n20.1 _Low_\n\nArcata town · 17,231 people\n\n20 _Low_\n\nEureka city · 26,512 people\n\n18.2 _Low_\n\nMyrtletown village · 4,882 people\n\n17.8 _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 contributes unevenly across Humboldt County. Terrain scores run from 5.0 near Shelter Cove to 65.0 at Shelter Cove, with a median of 40.0.\n\nVegetation and fuels are generally elevated in the scored locations: the median is 67.2, with a high of 75.8 at Petrolia and a low of 5.0 at Shelter Cove.\n\nHazard-zone scores are also high in many places, with a median of 70.0 and a peak of 93.4 at Orleans;Panámnik. Fire-history scores vary sharply too, from 5.0 at Shelter Cove to 95.0 near Garberville.\n\n40 median terrain score (max 65 near Shelter Cove)\n\n67.2 median vegetation & fuels score (max 75.8 near Petrolia)\n\nFire weather\n\n## Fire weather across _Humboldt County_\n\nFire weather was measured across the county, and it varies less than some other wildfire-risk factors. Scores range from 51.2 near Orick to 58.6 at Shelter Cove, with a median of 57.4.\n\nThat tight range means fire weather is one important background condition countywide, while bigger place-to-place differences are more visible in factors like fuels, hazard zones, and prior fire history.\n\n51.2 lowest fire-weather score — near Orick\n\n58.6 highest fire-weather score — near Shelter Cove\n\nWhat drives it\n\n## Which part of the risk _moves_, and which doesn't\n\nRisk shifts a lot between communities. On the lower end, Eureka has a median score of 18.2 and Arcata is 20.0. Inland communities can be much higher, including Willow Creek at 74.6 and Orleans;Panámnik at 72.0.\n\nEven nearby places can differ. Fortuna is 39.3 while Scotia is 54.7, and Blue Lake is 47.0. So buyers and owners usually need to look at neighborhood-level patterns, not just a county average.\n\nCountywide extremes reinforce that spread: the lowest scored location is near Shelter Cove at 12.7, while the highest is near Myers Flat at 78.9.\n\nEach bar is what one part of the score covers across Humboldt 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\n5–65 highest near Shelter Cove\n\nVegetation & fuels\n\n5–75.8 highest near Petrolia\n\nHazard zone\n\n10–93.4 highest near Orleans;Panámnik\n\nFire history\n\n5–95 highest near Garberville\n\nFire weather\n\n51.2–58.6 highest near Shelter Cove\n\nOverall score\n\n12.7–78.9 highest near Myers Flat\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\n5\n\n40\n\n65\n\nnear Shelter Cove\n\nShelter Cove\n\n176\n\nVegetation & fuels\n\n5\n\n67.2\n\n75.8\n\nShelter Cove\n\nPetrolia\n\n176\n\nHazard zone\n\n10\n\n70\n\n93.4\n\nShelter Cove\n\nOrleans;Panámnik\n\n176\n\nFire history\n\n5\n\n20\n\n95\n\nShelter Cove\n\nnear Garberville\n\n176\n\nFire weather\n\n51.2\n\n57.4\n\n58.6\n\nnear Orick\n\nShelter Cove\n\n176\n\nComposite\n\n12.7\n\n53.8\n\n78.9\n\nnear Shelter Cove\n\nnear Myers Flat\n\n176\n\nIndependently of Satelife's layers, the USFS Wildfire Risk to Communities grid puts the county's mean annual burn probability at **0.47%** (90th percentile cell: **1.46%**), with a mean conditional flame length of **4.98 ft**. **79%** of the 28,368 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 **57** of the 176 sampled points — the zones cover Local Responsibility Areas. At **36** of them the USFS grid above supplied the hazard reading instead; at the remaining 21 the hazard weight is renormalised away rather than scored as low.\n\n176 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\nFEMA’s National Risk Index rates Humboldt County’s wildfire risk as Relatively Moderate, and its wildfire expected annual loss as Relatively Moderate. In the same FEMA county ratings, all-hazards risk is Relatively High.\n\nFEMA also rates social vulnerability in Humboldt County as Relatively High, while community resilience is Relatively Moderate. These are countywide ratings, not neighborhood ratings.\n\nA separate national wildfire product reports a mean annual burn probability of 0.47%, with a 90th-percentile cell value of 1.46%. It also indicates 79% of the county can burn.\n\nAcross 176 sampled points in Humboldt County, the score runs from 12.7 to 78.9 — 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 Humboldt 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 Humboldt County\n\nEvery one of the 42 ZIP areas that touch Humboldt 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** 21 ZIPs\n\n-   [95511 Garberville74](/wildfire-risk/zip/95511/)\n-   [95552 Miranda73](/wildfire-risk/zip/95552/)\n-   [95556 Orleans;Panámnik72](/wildfire-risk/zip/95556/)\n-   [95545 Myers Flat70](/wildfire-risk/zip/95545/)\n-   [95554 Miranda69](/wildfire-risk/zip/95554/)\n-   [95573 Willow Creek68](/wildfire-risk/zip/95573/)\n-   [95514 Miranda67](/wildfire-risk/zip/95514/)\n-   [95526 Myers Flat64](/wildfire-risk/zip/95526/)\n-   [95571 Myers Flat62](/wildfire-risk/zip/95571/)\n-   [95555 Orick61](/wildfire-risk/zip/95555/)\n-   [95569 Myers Flat61](/wildfire-risk/zip/95569/)\n-   [95546 Hoopa / na:tinixw60](/wildfire-risk/zip/95546/)\n-   [95559 Miranda60](/wildfire-risk/zip/95559/)\n-   [95542 Garberville57](/wildfire-risk/zip/95542/)\n-   [95553 Myers Flat56](/wildfire-risk/zip/95553/)\n-   [95558 Petrolia55](/wildfire-risk/zip/95558/)\n-   [95560 Garberville55](/wildfire-risk/zip/95560/)\n-   [95549 Ridgewood Heights55](/wildfire-risk/zip/95549/)\n-   [95562 Scotia54](/wildfire-risk/zip/95562/)\n-   [95589 Shelter Cove51](/wildfire-risk/zip/95589/)\n-   [95550 Blue Lake50](/wildfire-risk/zip/95550/)\n\n**Moderate** 10 ZIPs\n\n-   [95525 Blue Lake47](/wildfire-risk/zip/95525/)\n-   [95528 Scotia43](/wildfire-risk/zip/95528/)\n-   [95536 Ferndale43](/wildfire-risk/zip/95536/)\n-   [95521 Arcata42](/wildfire-risk/zip/95521/)\n-   [95540 Fortuna39](/wildfire-risk/zip/95540/)\n-   [95570 Trinidad39](/wildfire-risk/zip/95570/)\n-   [95565 Scotia39](/wildfire-risk/zip/95565/)\n-   [95551 Loleta31](/wildfire-risk/zip/95551/)\n-   [95503 Ridgewood Heights31](/wildfire-risk/zip/95503/)\n-   [95519 McKinleyville30](/wildfire-risk/zip/95519/)\n\n**Low** 2 ZIPs\n\n-   [95537 Humboldt Hill24](/wildfire-risk/zip/95537/)\n-   [95501 Myrtletown19](/wildfire-risk/zip/95501/)\n\n**No sampled point inside** 9 ZIPs\n\n[95524 Arcata](/wildfire-risk/zip/95524/) · [95527 Willow Creek](/wildfire-risk/zip/95527/) · [95547 Fortuna](/wildfire-risk/zip/95547/) · [95548 Orick](/wildfire-risk/zip/95548/) · [95563 Willow Creek](/wildfire-risk/zip/95563/) · [95564 Bayview](/wildfire-risk/zip/95564/) · [95568 Orleans;Panámnik](/wildfire-risk/zip/95568/) · [96031 Orleans;Panámnik](/wildfire-risk/zip/96031/) · [96046](/wildfire-risk/zip/96046/)\n\nGrouped from 33 of 42 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## Humboldt 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 Humboldt County address PDF + score + mitigation plan](/#cta)\n\nFAQ\n\n## Frequently asked questions about _Humboldt County wildfire risk_\n\nIs wildfire risk basically the same across Humboldt County?\n\nNo. In the places we scored, overall risk ranges from 12.7 near Shelter Cove to 78.9 near Myers Flat. Community medians also vary widely, from 18.2 in Eureka to 74.6 in Willow Creek.\n\nWhat are the key recent and historic fires to know?\n\nThe largest fire listing is Megram (1999), at 125,072 acres. The most recent large fire listed is Mp18 (2026). Red (2020) and Campbell (2022) also burned partly in Humboldt County.\n\nHow much of the county has burned since 1984?\n\n308,768 acres have burned since 1984, which is 12% of Humboldt County.\n\nWhat does FEMA say about countywide wildfire risk?\n\nFEMA’s National Risk Index rates Humboldt County’s wildfire risk as Relatively Moderate and wildfire expected annual loss as Relatively Moderate. FEMA rates the county’s all-hazards risk as Relatively High.\n\nDoes fire weather vary a lot within the county?\n\nLess than many other factors here. Fire-weather scores run from 51.2 near Orick to 58.6 at Shelter Cove, with a median of 57.4.\n\nThis page is generated from a Humboldt 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."
}