Lancaster, WI
Lancaster wildfire risk explained
Lancaster's 2,082 buildings earn a 21st-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Lancaster at the 21st percentile, close to its 21st-percentile risk score.
Where Lancaster's buildings actually sit
USFS puts 84.5% of Lancaster's 2,082 buildings in the Indirect exposure zone, versus 11.1% Direct and 4.4% Minimal — a place where the fire doesn't need to reach the structure directly for embers to.
How Lancaster compares
There's little gap between Lancaster's 21st national percentile and its 33rd percentile inside Wisconsin, which means the state comparison mostly confirms what the national score already shows. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Lancaster ranks 25,040 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 7,249 by building count (1 is largest). Within Wisconsin alone, it ranks 545 of 808 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Wisconsin on its state page.
Lancaster and the insurance market
Lancaster's moderate rating (21st percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Lancaster's 84.5% 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 Lancaster's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Lancaster's 25,040-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Lancaster's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.