Lake Tapawingo, MO
Lake Tapawingo wildfire risk explained
USFS scores Lake Tapawingo at the 35th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range), a figure built from 399 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Lake Tapawingo's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 36th percentile nationally.
Where Lake Tapawingo's buildings actually sit
Lake Tapawingo rates 81.5% Minimal exposure against just 18.6% Direct and 0% Indirect — of 399 buildings counted, few sit close enough to burnable vegetation for USFS to flag them individually.
Lake Tapawingo against the rest of the country
Lake Tapawingo's 35th national percentile looks worse in isolation than its 11th ranking inside Missouri does — this place is on the milder end for its own state, by 24 points. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Lake Tapawingo ranks 20,576 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 19,231 by building count (1 is largest). Within Missouri alone, it ranks 946 of 1,062 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Missouri on its state page.
Lake Tapawingo and the insurance market
At the 35th national percentile, Lake Tapawingo rates moderate for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
Hardening a home in Lake Tapawingo
Even with 81.5% of Lake Tapawingo 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 Lake Tapawingo's figures come from
Lake Tapawingo's 35th-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 Lake Tapawingo's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.