Fairdale, ND
Fairdale wildfire risk explained
Fairdale sits at the 65th 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 65 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Fairdale at the 59th national percentile — 6 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Only 32.3% of Fairdale's 65 buildings carry Direct exposure and 0% carry Indirect; the remaining 67.7% are Minimal, which shifts the risk driving this page's score toward the surrounding landscape rather than any one structure.
Where Fairdale ranks
Fairdale's 83rd-percentile standing inside North Dakota outpaces its 65th national percentile — this is a hotter spot than most of its own state, even though the state as a whole runs cooler nationally. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Fairdale ranks 10,945 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 30,470 by building count (1 is largest). Within North Dakota alone, it ranks 71 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
Fairdale's high rating (65th percentile) puts it among the places where the national carrier-pullback trend is most relevant — not a guarantee of a coverage problem, but a reason to shop rather than assume.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Fairdale's 67.7% Minimal-exposure share means structure-level hardening matters less here than it would elsewhere — still worth the low-cost basics, per the home-hardening guide.
Where Fairdale's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 65 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Fairdale. The exposure-zones guide covers what Fairdale's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.