De Smet, SD
How exposed is De Smet to wildfire?
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts De Smet at the 70th national percentile for risk to structures, well above the national norm for wildfire risk — a score built from 818 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks De Smet at the 65th national percentile — 4 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
De Smet's building exposure, zone by zone
Most of De Smet's buildings (84.7%) sit in the Indirect zone, where wind-blown embers rather than flame front are the mechanism USFS is scoring — ember-resistant vents and non-combustible roofing are the interventions this pattern favors, more than defensible space alone.
Where De Smet ranks
De Smet's risk sits at a similar level relative to South Dakota (65th percentile statewide) as it does nationally (70th) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, De Smet ranks 9,531 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 13,478 by building count (1 is largest). Within South Dakota alone, it ranks 155 of 439 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for South Dakota on its state page.
De Smet and the insurance market
De Smet's high rating (70th 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 ember exposure the dominant pattern in De Smet (84.7% Indirect), vent screens and roofing material tend to matter more than lot clearing alone. The home-hardening guide covers both.
Where De Smet's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 818 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for De Smet. The exposure-zones guide covers what De Smet's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.