Lockwood, MT
Lockwood wildfire risk explained
Out of every US place USFS scores, Lockwood lands at the 87th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — a figure built from its 4,457 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Lockwood at the 88th national percentile — 0 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Indirect exposure is dominant in Lockwood (74.4% of 4,457 buildings): far enough from burnable vegetation to avoid flame contact, close enough for wind-blown embers. Only 25.5% sit in the Direct zone.
How Lockwood compares
Lockwood ranks lower within Montana (69th percentile statewide) than its 87th national percentile suggests alone — a calmer spot in a state where wildfire risk generally runs high. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Lockwood ranks 3,969 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 3,831 by building count (1 is largest). Within Montana alone, it ranks 148 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
Lockwood's 87th-percentile, very high rating is the kind of score behind a broader national pattern: insurers pulling back from the highest wildfire-risk markets, non-renewing or declining new policies outright, most visibly in California. Shopping around, not assuming automatic renewal, tends to matter here.
Hardening a home in Lockwood
Lockwood's 74.4% 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 Lockwood's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Lockwood's 3,969-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Lockwood's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.