Lima, MT
Lima, MT's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Lima sits at the 63rd percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — well above the national norm for wildfire risk — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 309 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Lima at the 61st national percentile — 2 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Lima's building exposure, zone by zone
USFS puts 72.8% of Lima's 309 buildings in the Indirect exposure zone, versus 27.2% Direct and 0% Minimal — a place where the fire doesn't need to reach the structure directly for embers to.
Where Lima ranks
Inside Montana, Lima sits at just the 29th percentile even though it scores 63rd nationally — the state's overall wildfire exposure is high enough to make this a relatively quiet corner of it. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Lima ranks 11,791 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 21,400 by building count (1 is largest). Within Montana alone, it ranks 338 of 475 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Montana on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Lima's high rating (63rd percentile) puts it among the places where the national carrier-pullback trend is most relevant — not a guarantee of a coverage problem, but a reason to shop rather than assume.
Hardening a home in Lima
Lima's 72.8% 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.
More on how this number was built
Lima's 63rd-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Lima, see the exposure-zones guide.