Deer Lodge, MT
How exposed is Deer Lodge to wildfire?
Deer Lodge sits at the 59th 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 2,354 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Deer Lodge's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 58th percentile nationally.
Where Deer Lodge's buildings actually sit
Indirect exposure is dominant in Deer Lodge (95.6% of 2,354 buildings): far enough from burnable vegetation to avoid flame contact, close enough for wind-blown embers. Only 4.4% sit in the Direct zone.
Where Deer Lodge ranks
Deer Lodge's 59th national percentile looks worse in isolation than its 23rd ranking inside Montana does — this place is on the milder end for its own state, by 36 points. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Deer Lodge ranks 13,086 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 6,600 by building count (1 is largest). Within Montana alone, it ranks 368 of 475 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Montana on its state page.
Deer Lodge and the insurance market
Deer Lodge's elevated rating (59th percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
Hardening a home in Deer Lodge
Because 95.6% of Deer Lodge's buildings sit in the Indirect zone, sealing the ember pathway (vents, roofing, gutters) is the intervention this page's data actually supports — see the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
Deer Lodge's 59th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Deer Lodge, see the exposure-zones guide.