Erie, KS
How exposed is Erie to wildfire?
Out of every US place USFS scores, Erie lands at the 54th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — a figure built from its 797 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Erie's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 55th percentile nationally.
Where Erie's buildings actually sit
Erie rates 78.9% Minimal exposure against just 21.1% Direct and 0% Indirect — of 797 buildings counted, few sit close enough to burnable vegetation for USFS to flag them individually.
How Erie compares
Erie scores 54th nationally and 40th within Kansas — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Erie ranks 14,559 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 13,659 by building count (1 is largest). Within Kansas alone, it ranks 434 of 721 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Kansas on its state page.
Erie and the insurance market
Erie's elevated rating (54th 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 Erie
Even with 78.9% of Erie outside USFS's Direct and Indirect zones, basic hardening — gutter maintenance, ember-resistant vents — is inexpensive relative to the regional burn-probability risk noted above. Details in the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 797 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Erie. For more on what minimal exposure implies beyond Erie, see the exposure-zones guide.