Downing, MO
Downing wildfire risk explained
Downing sits at the 69th percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — well above the national norm for wildfire risk — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 308 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Downing at the 71st national percentile — 2 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Where Downing's buildings actually sit
63.6% of Downing's 308 buildings fall in USFS's Indirect exposure zone — ember cast rather than direct flame — against 36.4% Direct and 0% Minimal. Vent screens and roofing material matter more here than lot clearing alone.
Where Downing ranks
Downing scores 69th nationally and 79th within Missouri — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Downing ranks 9,930 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 21,421 by building count (1 is largest). Within Missouri alone, it ranks 227 of 1,062 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Missouri on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Downing's 69th-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.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Because 63.6% of Downing'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.
Where Downing's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 308 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Downing. The exposure-zones guide covers what Downing's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.