Montaqua, MT
How exposed is Montaqua to wildfire?
Out of every US place USFS scores, Montaqua lands at the 81st percentile for wildfire risk to structures — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — a figure built from its 123 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 Montaqua at the 80th percentile, close to its 81st-percentile risk score.
Montaqua's building exposure, zone by zone
Direct exposure dominates in Montaqua: 99.2% of its 123 buildings, versus 0.8% Indirect and 0% Minimal. Clearing space around a structure changes the outcome here more than any single building-material swap.
How Montaqua compares
Montaqua's 81st national percentile looks worse in isolation than its 54th ranking inside Montana does — this place is on the milder end for its own state, by 27 points. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Montaqua ranks 6,086 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 28,023 by building count (1 is largest). Within Montana alone, it ranks 218 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
At the 81st percentile nationally, Montaqua carries the very high rating that has pushed some carriers to limit new business in similarly-scored places elsewhere in the country. Worth comparing quotes rather than assuming last year's renewal terms still apply.
What would actually reduce this score
Because Direct exposure dominates in Montaqua (99.2%), the highest-leverage fix is defensible space, not roofing or vents alone — covered in the home-hardening guide.
Where Montaqua's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 123 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Montaqua. The exposure-zones guide covers what Montaqua's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.