Buchanan, MI
Buchanan, MI's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Buchanan sits at the 10th percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 2,206 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Buchanan's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 10th percentile nationally.
Buchanan's building exposure, zone by zone
40.4% of Buchanan's 2,206 buildings fall in USFS's Indirect exposure zone — ember cast rather than direct flame — against 21.1% Direct and 38.4% Minimal. Vent screens and roofing material matter more here than lot clearing alone.
Buchanan against the rest of the country
Within Michigan, Buchanan ranks higher (33rd percentile) than it does nationally (10th) — one of the more fire-exposed places in a state that, overall, scores lower than that. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Buchanan ranks 28,434 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 6,920 by building count (1 is largest). Within Michigan alone, it ranks 497 of 745 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Michigan on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Buchanan's low wildfire rating (10th 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 40.4% of Buchanan'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.
More on how this number was built
Buchanan's 10th-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 Buchanan, see the exposure-zones guide.