Hartz Lake, IN
Hartz Lake, IN's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Hartz Lake's 103 buildings earn a 6th-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Hartz Lake at the 5th percentile, close to its 6th-percentile risk score.
Where Hartz Lake's buildings actually sit
82.5% of Hartz Lake's 103 buildings sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone, roughly 85 structures close enough to burnable vegetation for flame contact, not just embers — 0% fall in the Indirect, ember-only zone and 17.5% are Minimal.
How Hartz Lake compares
Within Indiana, Hartz Lake ranks higher (40th percentile) than it does nationally (6th) — one of the more fire-exposed places in a state that, overall, scores lower than that. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Hartz Lake ranks 29,717 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 28,885 by building count (1 is largest). Within Indiana alone, it ranks 584 of 967 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Indiana on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
At the 6th national percentile, Hartz Lake rates low 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
Because Direct exposure dominates in Hartz Lake (82.5%), the highest-leverage fix is defensible space, not roofing or vents alone — covered in the home-hardening guide.
Where Hartz Lake's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Hartz Lake's 29,717-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Hartz Lake's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.