Lake City, SD
How exposed is Lake City to wildfire?
USFS scores Lake City at the 68th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (well above the national norm for wildfire risk), a figure built from 52 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Lake City at the 66th percentile, close to its 68th-percentile risk score.
Where Lake City's buildings actually sit
Direct exposure dominates in Lake City: 100% of its 52 buildings, versus 0% Indirect and 0% Minimal. Clearing space around a structure changes the outcome here more than any single building-material swap.
Lake City against the rest of the country
Lake City's risk sits at a similar level relative to South Dakota (63rd percentile statewide) as it does nationally (68th) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Lake City ranks 10,064 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 30,888 by building count (1 is largest). Within South Dakota alone, it ranks 164 of 439 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for South Dakota on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
At the 68th percentile nationally, Lake City carries the high rating that has pushed some carriers to limit new business in similarly-scored places elsewhere in the country. Worth comparing quotes rather than assuming last year's renewal terms still apply.
Hardening a home in Lake City
With 100% of Lake City 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
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 52 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Lake City. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Lake City, see the exposure-zones guide.