Monte Vista, CO
Monte Vista wildfire risk explained
USFS scores Monte Vista at the 33rd national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range), a figure built from 2,442 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Monte Vista at the 31st national percentile — 3 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Monte Vista's building exposure, zone by zone
Monte Vista rates 91.1% Minimal exposure against just 4.8% Direct and 4.1% Indirect — of 2,442 buildings counted, few sit close enough to burnable vegetation for USFS to flag them individually.
Monte Vista against the rest of the country
Monte Vista ranks lower within Colorado (5th percentile statewide) than its 33rd national percentile suggests alone — a calmer spot in a state where wildfire risk generally runs high. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Monte Vista ranks 21,011 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 6,416 by building count (1 is largest). Within Colorado alone, it ranks 449 of 472 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Colorado on its state page.
Monte Vista and the insurance market
Monte Vista's moderate rating (33rd percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Even with 91.1% of Monte Vista 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 2,442 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Monte Vista. For more on what minimal exposure implies beyond Monte Vista, see the exposure-zones guide.