Hale, MO
Hale, MO's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
USFS scores Hale at the 56th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (modestly above the national average for wildfire risk), a figure built from 342 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Hale at the 57th national percentile — 1 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Only 34.5% of Hale's 342 buildings carry Direct exposure and 0% carry Indirect; the remaining 65.5% are Minimal, which shifts the risk driving this page's score toward the surrounding landscape rather than any one structure.
Hale against the rest of the country
There's little gap between Hale's 56th national percentile and its 43rd percentile inside Missouri, which means the state comparison mostly confirms what the national score already shows. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Hale ranks 14,030 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 20,517 by building count (1 is largest). Within Missouri alone, it ranks 603 of 1,062 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Missouri on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
At the 56th national percentile, Hale rates elevated for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
What would actually reduce this score
Even with 65.5% of Hale 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.
Where Hale's figures come from
Hale's 56th-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 Hale's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.