Fort Benton, MT
How exposed is Fort Benton to wildfire?
Fort Benton's 1,173 buildings earn a 67th-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — well above the national norm for wildfire risk. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Fort Benton at the 63rd percentile, close to its 67th-percentile risk score.
Fort Benton's building exposure, zone by zone
Most of Fort Benton's buildings (90.6%) sit in the Indirect zone, where wind-blown embers rather than flame front are the mechanism USFS is scoring — ember-resistant vents and non-combustible roofing are the interventions this pattern favors, more than defensible space alone.
Where Fort Benton ranks
Fort Benton ranks lower within Montana (35th percentile statewide) than its 67th national percentile suggests alone — a calmer spot in a state where wildfire risk generally runs high. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Fort Benton ranks 10,566 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 10,809 by building count (1 is largest). Within Montana alone, it ranks 311 of 475 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Montana on its state page.
Fort Benton and the insurance market
Fort Benton's high rating (67th 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.
Hardening a home in Fort Benton
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in Fort Benton (90.6% Indirect), vent screens and roofing material tend to matter more than lot clearing alone. The home-hardening guide covers both.
Where Fort Benton's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Fort Benton's 10,566-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Fort Benton's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.