Dodge, ND
Dodge wildfire risk explained
Dodge's 126 buildings earn a 68th-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — well above the national norm for wildfire risk. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Dodge at the 67th national percentile — 2 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Dodge's building exposure, zone by zone
57.9% of Dodge's 126 buildings sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone, roughly 73 structures close enough to burnable vegetation for flame contact, not just embers — 42.1% fall in the Indirect, ember-only zone and 0% are Minimal.
How Dodge compares
Compare Dodge's two percentiles: 86th within North Dakota, only 68th nationally — a gap of 18 points that marks it as unusually exposed for its own state. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Dodge ranks 10,028 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 27,908 by building count (1 is largest). Within North Dakota alone, it ranks 58 of 402 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for North Dakota on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Dodge's 68th-percentile, high rating is the kind of score behind a broader national pattern: insurers pulling back from the highest wildfire-risk markets, non-renewing or declining new policies outright, most visibly in California. Shopping around, not assuming automatic renewal, tends to matter here.
Hardening a home in Dodge
Because Direct exposure dominates in Dodge (57.9%), the highest-leverage fix is defensible space, not roofing or vents alone — covered in the home-hardening guide.
Where Dodge's figures come from
Dodge's 68th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Dodge's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.