Britton, SD
How exposed is Britton to wildfire?
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Britton at the 65th national percentile for risk to structures, well above the national norm for wildfire risk — a score built from 820 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Britton'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 Britton's buildings (83.3%) 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 Britton compares
Britton scores 65th nationally and 58th within South Dakota — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Britton ranks 10,917 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 13,453 by building count (1 is largest). Within South Dakota alone, it ranks 185 of 439 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for South Dakota on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Britton's 65th-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
Britton's 83.3% Indirect-exposure share points at embers, not flame contact, as the main pathway — ember-resistant vents and non-combustible roofing rank ahead of defensible space here. Detail in the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 820 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Britton. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Britton, see the exposure-zones guide.