Bethune, CO
Bethune wildfire risk explained
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Bethune at the 43rd national percentile for risk to structures, modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — a score built from 141 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 Bethune at the 41st percentile, close to its 43rd-percentile risk score.
Where Bethune's buildings actually sit
Indirect exposure is dominant in Bethune (73.1% of 141 buildings): far enough from burnable vegetation to avoid flame contact, close enough for wind-blown embers. Only 27% sit in the Direct zone.
Bethune against the rest of the country
Bethune's 43rd national percentile looks worse in isolation than its 10th ranking inside Colorado does — this place is on the milder end for its own state, by 33 points. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Bethune ranks 17,891 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 27,235 by building count (1 is largest). Within Colorado alone, it ranks 424 of 472 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Colorado on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Bethune's elevated wildfire rating (43rd 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
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in Bethune (73.1% Indirect), vent screens and roofing material tend to matter more than lot clearing alone. The home-hardening guide covers both.
More on how this number was built
Every one of the two percentiles behind Bethune's 17,891-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Bethune, see the exposure-zones guide.