Big Falls, MN
How exposed is Big Falls to wildfire?
Big Falls's 319 buildings earn a 52nd-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Big Falls's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 51st percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
319 buildings are counted in Big Falls, and 59.6% of them are Indirect exposure — ember-driven risk rather than the 40.4% in Direct exposure or the 0% rated Minimal.
Big Falls against the rest of the country
Compare Big Falls's two percentiles: 77th within Minnesota, only 52nd nationally — a gap of 25 points that marks it as unusually exposed for its own state. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Big Falls ranks 15,191 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 21,117 by building count (1 is largest). Within Minnesota alone, it ranks 214 of 914 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Minnesota on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
At the 52nd national percentile, Big Falls rates elevated for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
What would actually reduce this score
Because 59.6% of Big Falls's buildings sit in the Indirect zone, sealing the ember pathway (vents, roofing, gutters) is the intervention this page's data actually supports — see the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
Big Falls's 52nd-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 Big Falls, see the exposure-zones guide.