Elsmore, KS
How exposed is Elsmore to wildfire?
Elsmore sits at the 56th 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 75 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Elsmore at the 56th percentile, close to its 56th-percentile risk score.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
USFS classifies 52% of Elsmore's buildings as Direct exposure, higher than its 0% Indirect share and far above its 48% Minimal share — a profile where 39 structures sit close enough to vegetation that lot clearing matters most.
How Elsmore compares
There's little gap between Elsmore's 56th national percentile and its 44th percentile inside Kansas, which means the state comparison mostly confirms what the national score already shows. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Elsmore ranks 13,899 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 30,087 by building count (1 is largest). Within Kansas alone, it ranks 405 of 721 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Kansas on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Elsmore
At the 56th national percentile, Elsmore rates elevated for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
What would actually reduce this score
Because Direct exposure dominates in Elsmore (52%), the highest-leverage fix is defensible space, not roofing or vents alone — covered in the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
Every one of the two percentiles behind Elsmore's 13,899-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Elsmore, see the exposure-zones guide.