Cold Spring, MN
Cold Spring wildfire risk explained
Cold Spring sits at the 43rd percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 1,724 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Cold Spring at the 44th 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
87.2% of Cold Spring's 1,724 buildings fall in USFS's Indirect exposure zone — ember cast rather than direct flame — against 12.8% Direct and 0% Minimal. Vent screens and roofing material matter more here than lot clearing alone.
How Cold Spring compares
Compare Cold Spring's two percentiles: 60th within Minnesota, only 43rd nationally — a gap of 17 points that marks it as unusually exposed for its own state. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Cold Spring ranks 17,963 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 8,322 by building count (1 is largest). Within Minnesota alone, it ranks 365 of 914 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Minnesota on its state page.
Cold Spring and the insurance market
Cold Spring's elevated rating (43rd percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Cold Spring's 87.2% 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 1,724 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Cold Spring. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Cold Spring, see the exposure-zones guide.