Alanson, MI
Alanson wildfire risk explained
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Alanson at the 19th national percentile for risk to structures, among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally — a score built from 513 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Alanson at the 19th percentile, close to its 19th-percentile risk score.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Indirect exposure is dominant in Alanson (55.4% of 513 buildings): far enough from burnable vegetation to avoid flame contact, close enough for wind-blown embers. Only 44.6% sit in the Direct zone.
Alanson against the rest of the country
Compare Alanson's two percentiles: 64th within Michigan, only 19th nationally — a gap of 45 points that marks it as unusually exposed for its own state. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Alanson ranks 25,465 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 17,130 by building count (1 is largest). Within Michigan alone, it ranks 267 of 745 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Michigan on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Alanson's low rating (19th percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
Hardening a home in Alanson
Alanson's 55.4% Indirect-exposure share points at embers, not flame contact, as the main pathway — ember-resistant vents and non-combustible roofing rank ahead of defensible space here. Detail in the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
Alanson's 19th-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 Alanson, see the exposure-zones guide.