Judith Gap, MT
How exposed is Judith Gap to wildfire?
USFS scores Judith Gap at the 39th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range), a figure built from 183 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Judith Gap at the 36th national percentile — 3 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Judith Gap's building exposure, zone by zone
59.6% of Judith Gap's 183 buildings fall in USFS's Indirect exposure zone — ember cast rather than direct flame — against 40.4% Direct and 0% Minimal. Vent screens and roofing material matter more here than lot clearing alone.
Judith Gap against the rest of the country
Judith Gap ranks lower within Montana (7th percentile statewide) than its 39th national percentile suggests alone — a calmer spot in a state where wildfire risk generally runs high. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Judith Gap ranks 19,285 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 25,505 by building count (1 is largest). Within Montana alone, it ranks 442 of 475 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Montana on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Judith Gap's moderate wildfire rating (39th 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.
What would actually reduce this score
Judith Gap's 59.6% Indirect-exposure share points at embers, not flame contact, as the main pathway — ember-resistant vents and non-combustible roofing rank ahead of defensible space here. Detail in the home-hardening guide.
Where Judith Gap's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Judith Gap's 19,285-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Judith Gap's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.