Blende, CO
Blende wildfire risk explained
Blende sits at the 49th percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 735 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Blende at the 49th national percentile — 0 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
USFS puts 94.8% of Blende's 735 buildings in the Indirect exposure zone, versus 5.2% Direct and 0% Minimal — a place where the fire doesn't need to reach the structure directly for embers to.
Blende against the rest of the country
Blende's 49th national percentile looks worse in isolation than its 16th 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, Blende ranks 16,156 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 14,268 by building count (1 is largest). Within Colorado alone, it ranks 396 of 472 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Colorado on its state page.
Blende and the insurance market
Blende's elevated rating (49th percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in Blende (94.8% 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
Blende's 49th-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 Blende, see the exposure-zones guide.