Hardy, MT
Hardy wildfire risk explained
Out of every US place USFS scores, Hardy lands at the 91st percentile for wildfire risk to structures — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — a figure built from its 155 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Hardy's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 88th percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Direct exposure dominates in Hardy: 79.4% of its 155 buildings, versus 16.1% Indirect and 4.5% Minimal. Clearing space around a structure changes the outcome here more than any single building-material swap.
How Hardy compares
There's little gap between Hardy's 91st national percentile and its 79th percentile inside Montana, which means the state comparison mostly confirms what the national score already shows. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Hardy ranks 2,832 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 26,664 by building count (1 is largest). Within Montana alone, it ranks 100 of 475 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Montana on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Hardy
Hardy's very high rating (91st 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
With 79.4% of Hardy in Direct exposure, defensible-space clearing and ember-resistant construction (vents, Class-A roofing) address the exposure this page's own numbers describe, not a generic checklist. See the home-hardening guide.
Where Hardy's figures come from
Hardy's 91st-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 Hardy's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.