Longton, KS
How exposed is Longton to wildfire?
Out of every US place USFS scores, Longton lands at the 93rd percentile for wildfire risk to structures — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — a figure built from its 322 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Longton's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 94th percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Indirect exposure is dominant in Longton (63.4% of 322 buildings): far enough from burnable vegetation to avoid flame contact, close enough for wind-blown embers. Only 36.7% sit in the Direct zone.
How Longton compares
Longton's risk sits at a similar level relative to Kansas (93rd percentile statewide) as it does nationally (93rd) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Longton ranks 2,362 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 21,031 by building count (1 is largest). Within Kansas alone, it ranks 50 of 721 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Kansas on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Longton
Longton's 93rd-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.
What would actually reduce this score
Because 63.4% of Longton's buildings sit in the Indirect zone, sealing the ember pathway (vents, roofing, gutters) is the intervention this page's data actually supports — see the home-hardening guide.
Where Longton's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Longton's 2,362-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Longton's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.