Loma, MT
How exposed is Loma to wildfire?
Out of every US place USFS scores, Loma lands at the 66th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — well above the national norm for wildfire risk — a figure built from its 124 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Loma at the 62nd percentile, close to its 66th-percentile risk score.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
75% of Loma's 124 buildings fall in USFS's Indirect exposure zone — ember cast rather than direct flame — against 25% Direct and 0% Minimal. Vent screens and roofing material matter more here than lot clearing alone.
How Loma compares
Loma's 66th national percentile looks worse in isolation than its 33rd ranking inside Montana does — this place is on the milder end for its own state, by 33 points. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Loma ranks 10,655 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 27,994 by building count (1 is largest). Within Montana alone, it ranks 316 of 475 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Montana on its state page.
Loma and the insurance market
Loma's high rating (66th 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.
What would actually reduce this score
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in Loma (75% Indirect), vent screens and roofing material tend to matter more than lot clearing alone. The home-hardening guide covers both.
Where Loma's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 124 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Loma. The exposure-zones guide covers what Loma's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.