Buffalo, KS
Buffalo, KS's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Buffalo's 203 buildings earn a 70th-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — well above the national norm for wildfire risk. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Buffalo at the 69th percentile, close to its 70th-percentile risk score.
Buffalo's building exposure, zone by zone
USFS classifies 50.7% of Buffalo's buildings as Minimal exposure, the largest of the three zones here by a wide margin over 49.3% Direct and 0% Indirect — a landscape-level risk rather than a building-by-building one.
Where Buffalo ranks
Buffalo scores 70th nationally and 67th within Kansas — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Buffalo ranks 9,484 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 24,730 by building count (1 is largest). Within Kansas alone, it ranks 235 of 721 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Kansas on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Buffalo
At the 70th percentile nationally, Buffalo carries the high rating that has pushed some carriers to limit new business in similarly-scored places elsewhere in the country. Worth comparing quotes rather than assuming last year's renewal terms still apply.
What would actually reduce this score
Even with 50.7% of Buffalo outside USFS's Direct and Indirect zones, basic hardening — gutter maintenance, ember-resistant vents — is inexpensive relative to the regional burn-probability risk noted above. Details in the home-hardening guide.
Where Buffalo's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Buffalo's 9,484-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Buffalo's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.