Friend, NE
How exposed is Friend to wildfire?
Out of every US place USFS scores, Friend lands at the 24th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range — a figure built from its 726 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Friend's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 17th percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
87.6% of Friend's 726 buildings sit in USFS's Minimal exposure zone, with only 12.4% rated Direct — risk here comes from regional burn probability more than proximity to burnable vegetation at the structure itself.
Friend against the rest of the country
Friend scores 24th nationally and 11th within Nebraska — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Friend ranks 24,052 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 14,384 by building count (1 is largest). Within Nebraska alone, it ranks 518 of 583 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Nebraska on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Friend
Friend's moderate wildfire rating (24th percentile) isn't the kind of score driving the carrier pullback making news in the highest-risk Western markets — but a standard homeowners quote is still worth comparing on its own terms.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
With 87.6% of buildings rated Minimal exposure, Friend gets less benefit from structure hardening than a Direct- or Indirect-dominant place would — the home-hardening guide explains why the zone matters.
Where Friend's figures come from
Friend's 24th-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 Friend's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.