Hazel, SD
Hazel wildfire risk explained
Hazel sits at the 37th percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 108 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Hazel at the 30th national percentile — 7 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Hazel's building exposure, zone by zone
108 buildings are counted in Hazel, and 53.7% of them sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone — flame contact, not just ember cast, is the live possibility for most of them, against 46.3% rated Minimal.
Hazel against the rest of the country
Inside South Dakota, Hazel sits at just the 10th percentile even though it scores 37th nationally — the state's overall wildfire exposure is high enough to make this a relatively quiet corner of it. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Hazel ranks 19,899 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 28,715 by building count (1 is largest). Within South Dakota alone, it ranks 395 of 439 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for South Dakota on its state page.
Hazel and the insurance market
At the 37th national percentile, Hazel rates moderate for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
With 53.7% of Hazel 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.
More on how this number was built
Hazel's 37th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Hazel, see the exposure-zones guide.