King Lake, NE
King Lake wildfire risk explained
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts King Lake at the 59th national percentile for risk to structures, modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — a score built from 223 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts King Lake at the 53rd percentile, close to its 59th-percentile risk score.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
61.9% of King Lake's 223 buildings sit in USFS's Minimal exposure zone, with only 38.1% rated Direct — risk here comes from regional burn probability more than proximity to burnable vegetation at the structure itself.
King Lake against the rest of the country
King Lake's risk sits at a similar level relative to Nebraska (47th percentile statewide) as it does nationally (59th) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, King Lake ranks 13,024 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 24,017 by building count (1 is largest). Within Nebraska alone, it ranks 307 of 583 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Nebraska on its state page.
King Lake and the insurance market
King Lake's elevated rating (59th percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
Hardening a home in King Lake
Even with 61.9% of King Lake outside USFS's Direct and Indirect zones, basic hardening — gutter maintenance, ember-resistant vents — is inexpensive relative to the regional burn-probability risk noted above. Details in the home-hardening guide.
Where King Lake's figures come from
King Lake's 59th-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 King Lake's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.