Melvin, IL
Melvin, IL's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Melvin sits at the 0th percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 378 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Melvin at the 0th 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
Only 4.2% of Melvin's 378 buildings carry Direct exposure and 0% carry Indirect; the remaining 95.8% are Minimal, which shifts the risk driving this page's score toward the surrounding landscape rather than any one structure.
How Melvin compares
Melvin's risk sits at a similar level relative to Illinois (2nd percentile statewide) as it does nationally (0th) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Melvin ranks 31,450 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 19,681 by building count (1 is largest). Within Illinois alone, it ranks 1,410 of 1,445 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Illinois on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
At the 0th national percentile, Melvin rates low for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
Hardening a home in Melvin
Even with 95.8% of Melvin 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 378 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Melvin. For more on what minimal exposure implies beyond Melvin, see the exposure-zones guide.