Montello, WI
How exposed is Montello to wildfire?
Montello's 983 buildings earn a 46th-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Montello at the 46th national percentile — 1 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Where Montello's buildings actually sit
Most of Montello's buildings (61%) sit in the Indirect zone, where wind-blown embers rather than flame front are the mechanism USFS is scoring — ember-resistant vents and non-combustible roofing are the interventions this pattern favors, more than defensible space alone.
Montello against the rest of the country
Montello's 96th-percentile standing inside Wisconsin outpaces its 46th national percentile — this is a hotter spot than most of its own state, even though the state as a whole runs cooler nationally. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Montello ranks 17,069 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 12,056 by building count (1 is largest). Within Wisconsin alone, it ranks 32 of 808 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Wisconsin on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
At the 46th national percentile, Montello rates elevated for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
What would actually reduce this score
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in Montello (61% Indirect), vent screens and roofing material tend to matter more than lot clearing alone. The home-hardening guide covers both.
More on how this number was built
Montello's 46th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Montello, see the exposure-zones guide.