Basin, MT
Basin wildfire risk explained
USFS scores Basin at the 95th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally), a figure built from 231 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Basin at the 91st percentile, close to its 95th-percentile risk score.
Where Basin's buildings actually sit
231 buildings are counted in Basin, and 63.2% of them sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone — flame contact, not just ember cast, is the live possibility for most of them, against 0% rated Minimal.
Basin against the rest of the country
Basin scores 95th nationally and 89th within Montana — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Basin ranks 1,511 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 23,768 by building count (1 is largest). Within Montana alone, it ranks 51 of 475 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Montana on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Basin's very high rating (95th percentile) puts it among the places where the national carrier-pullback trend is most relevant — not a guarantee of a coverage problem, but a reason to shop rather than assume.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
With 63.2% of Basin in Direct exposure, defensible-space clearing and ember-resistant construction (vents, Class-A roofing) address the exposure this page's own numbers describe, not a generic checklist. See the home-hardening guide.
Where Basin's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 231 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Basin. The exposure-zones guide covers what Basin's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.