Blackhawk, SD
Blackhawk, SD's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Blackhawk sits at the 90th percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 1,615 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Blackhawk at the 90th national percentile — 1 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Where Blackhawk's buildings actually sit
1,615 buildings are counted in Blackhawk, and 63% of them are Indirect exposure — ember-driven risk rather than the 37% in Direct exposure or the 0% rated Minimal.
How Blackhawk compares
There's little gap between Blackhawk's 90th national percentile and its 94th percentile inside South Dakota, which means the state comparison mostly confirms what the national score already shows. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Blackhawk ranks 3,254 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 8,715 by building count (1 is largest). Within South Dakota alone, it ranks 28 of 439 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for South Dakota on its state page.
Blackhawk and the insurance market
Blackhawk's very high rating (90th 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.
What would actually reduce this score
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in Blackhawk (63% 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
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 1,615 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Blackhawk. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Blackhawk, see the exposure-zones guide.