Lemitar, NM
Lemitar wildfire risk explained
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Lemitar at the 72nd national percentile for risk to structures, well above the national norm for wildfire risk — a score built from 415 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Lemitar's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 69th percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
USFS classifies 82.9% of Lemitar's buildings as Direct exposure, higher than its 17.1% Indirect share and far above its 0% Minimal share — a profile where 344 structures sit close enough to vegetation that lot clearing matters most.
How Lemitar compares
Lemitar's 72nd national percentile looks worse in isolation than its 42nd ranking inside New Mexico does — this place is on the milder end for its own state, by 30 points. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Lemitar ranks 8,890 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 18,930 by building count (1 is largest). Within New Mexico alone, it ranks 287 of 495 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for New Mexico on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
At the 72nd percentile nationally, Lemitar 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 Lemitar
With 82.9% of Lemitar 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
Every one of the two percentiles behind Lemitar's 8,890-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Lemitar, see the exposure-zones guide.