Cogswell, ND
Cogswell wildfire risk explained
Out of every US place USFS scores, Cogswell lands at the 65th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — well above the national norm for wildfire risk — a figure built from its 132 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Cogswell's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 63rd percentile nationally.
Cogswell's building exposure, zone by zone
56.8% of Cogswell's 132 buildings sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone, roughly 75 structures close enough to burnable vegetation for flame contact, not just embers — 43.2% fall in the Indirect, ember-only zone and 0% are Minimal.
How Cogswell compares
Within North Dakota, Cogswell ranks higher (81st percentile) than it does nationally (65th) — one of the more fire-exposed places in a state that, overall, scores lower than that. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Cogswell ranks 11,101 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 27,636 by building count (1 is largest). Within North Dakota alone, it ranks 76 of 402 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for North Dakota on its state page.
Cogswell and the insurance market
Cogswell'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.
Hardening a home in Cogswell
Cogswell's 56.8% Direct-exposure share means lot clearing around the structure typically outweighs any single material upgrade here. The home-hardening guide ranks the options for a place shaped like this.
More on how this number was built
Every one of the two percentiles behind Cogswell's 11,101-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Cogswell, see the exposure-zones guide.