Kensal, ND
Kensal, ND's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Kensal's 203 buildings earn a 56th-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Kensal's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 55th percentile nationally.
Where Kensal's buildings actually sit
58.6% of Kensal's 203 buildings fall in USFS's Indirect exposure zone — ember cast rather than direct flame — against 41.4% Direct and 0% Minimal. Vent screens and roofing material matter more here than lot clearing alone.
How Kensal compares
Kensal's risk sits at a similar level relative to North Dakota (66th percentile statewide) as it does nationally (56th) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Kensal ranks 13,814 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 24,739 by building count (1 is largest). Within North Dakota alone, it ranks 137 of 402 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for North Dakota on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Kensal's elevated wildfire rating (56th 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
Because 58.6% of Kensal's buildings sit in the Indirect zone, sealing the ember pathway (vents, roofing, gutters) is the intervention this page's data actually supports — see the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
Every one of the two percentiles behind Kensal's 13,814-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Kensal, see the exposure-zones guide.