Fairfax, MN
How exposed is Fairfax to wildfire?
Fairfax sits at the 3rd percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 778 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Fairfax's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 3rd percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
94.9% of Fairfax's 778 buildings sit in USFS's Minimal exposure zone, with only 5.1% rated Direct — risk here comes from regional burn probability more than proximity to burnable vegetation at the structure itself.
Where Fairfax ranks
Fairfax's risk sits at a similar level relative to Minnesota (4th percentile statewide) as it does nationally (3rd) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Fairfax ranks 30,611 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 13,832 by building count (1 is largest). Within Minnesota alone, it ranks 875 of 914 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Minnesota on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
At the 3rd national percentile, Fairfax rates low for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
Hardening a home in Fairfax
Fairfax's 94.9% 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 Fairfax's figures come from
Fairfax's 3rd-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 Fairfax's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.