Birch Creek Colony, MT
Birch Creek Colony wildfire risk explained
USFS scores Birch Creek Colony at the 52nd national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (modestly above the national average for wildfire risk), a figure built from 47 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 Birch Creek Colony at the 51st percentile, close to its 52nd-percentile risk score.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Indirect exposure is dominant in Birch Creek Colony (93.6% of 47 buildings): far enough from burnable vegetation to avoid flame contact, close enough for wind-blown embers. Only 6.4% sit in the Direct zone.
Where Birch Creek Colony ranks
Birch Creek Colony ranks lower within Montana (15th percentile statewide) than its 52nd national percentile suggests alone — a calmer spot in a state where wildfire risk generally runs high. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Birch Creek Colony ranks 15,160 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 31,005 by building count (1 is largest). Within Montana alone, it ranks 406 of 475 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Montana on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Birch Creek Colony
Birch Creek Colony's elevated wildfire rating (52nd 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.
What would actually reduce this score
Because 93.6% of Birch Creek Colony'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.
Where Birch Creek Colony's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Birch Creek Colony's 15,160-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Birch Creek Colony's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.