Lesterville, SD
Lesterville wildfire risk explained
Lesterville sits at the 54th percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 137 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Lesterville at the 53rd national percentile — 1 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Lesterville rates 72.3% Minimal exposure against just 27.7% Direct and 0% Indirect — of 137 buildings counted, few sit close enough to burnable vegetation for USFS to flag them individually.
How Lesterville compares
Lesterville's 54th national percentile looks worse in isolation than its 36th ranking inside South Dakota does — this place is on the milder end for its own state, by 18 points. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Lesterville ranks 14,480 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 27,419 by building count (1 is largest). Within South Dakota alone, it ranks 282 of 439 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for South Dakota on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Lesterville
At the 54th national percentile, Lesterville rates elevated for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Even with 72.3% of Lesterville 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.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 137 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Lesterville. For more on what minimal exposure implies beyond Lesterville, see the exposure-zones guide.