Montrose, MI
How exposed is Montrose to wildfire?
Montrose's 861 buildings earn a 13th-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Montrose's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 14th percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
861 buildings are counted in Montrose, and 79.2% of them are Indirect exposure — ember-driven risk rather than the 20.8% in Direct exposure or the 0% rated Minimal.
Montrose against the rest of the country
Compare Montrose's two percentiles: 44th within Michigan, only 13th nationally — a gap of 31 points that marks it as unusually exposed for its own state. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Montrose ranks 27,542 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 13,067 by building count (1 is largest). Within Michigan alone, it ranks 420 of 745 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Michigan on its state page.
Montrose and the insurance market
At the 13th national percentile, Montrose 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 Montrose
Montrose's 79.2% Indirect-exposure share points at embers, not flame contact, as the main pathway — ember-resistant vents and non-combustible roofing rank ahead of defensible space here. Detail in the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 861 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Montrose. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Montrose, see the exposure-zones guide.