Bonne Terre, MO
How exposed is Bonne Terre to wildfire?
Bonne Terre sits at the 63rd percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — well above the national norm for wildfire risk — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 2,249 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Bonne Terre's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 65th percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Most of Bonne Terre's buildings (78.9%) sit in the Indirect zone, where wind-blown embers rather than flame front are the mechanism USFS is scoring — ember-resistant vents and non-combustible roofing are the interventions this pattern favors, more than defensible space alone.
How Bonne Terre compares
Bonne Terre's risk sits at a similar level relative to Missouri (63rd percentile statewide) as it does nationally (63rd) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Bonne Terre ranks 11,726 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 6,816 by building count (1 is largest). Within Missouri alone, it ranks 397 of 1,062 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Missouri on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Bonne Terre's 63rd-percentile, high rating is the kind of score behind a broader national pattern: insurers pulling back from the highest wildfire-risk markets, non-renewing or declining new policies outright, most visibly in California. Shopping around, not assuming automatic renewal, tends to matter here.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in Bonne Terre (78.9% Indirect), vent screens and roofing material tend to matter more than lot clearing alone. The home-hardening guide covers both.
Where Bonne Terre's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 2,249 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Bonne Terre. The exposure-zones guide covers what Bonne Terre's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.