Burgess, MO
Burgess wildfire risk explained
Burgess sits at the 65th 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 54 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Burgess at the 66th national percentile — 1 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
63% of Burgess's 54 buildings sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone, roughly 34 structures close enough to burnable vegetation for flame contact, not just embers — 37% fall in the Indirect, ember-only zone and 0% are Minimal.
Where Burgess ranks
Burgess's risk sits at a similar level relative to Missouri (68th percentile statewide) as it does nationally (65th) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Burgess ranks 11,125 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 30,819 by building count (1 is largest). Within Missouri alone, it ranks 338 of 1,062 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Missouri on its state page.
Burgess and the insurance market
Burgess's high rating (65th percentile) puts it among the places where the national carrier-pullback trend is most relevant — not a guarantee of a coverage problem, but a reason to shop rather than assume.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
With 63% of Burgess in Direct exposure, defensible-space clearing and ember-resistant construction (vents, Class-A roofing) address the exposure this page's own numbers describe, not a generic checklist. See the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
Every one of the two percentiles behind Burgess's 11,125-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Burgess, see the exposure-zones guide.