Napoleon, ND
Napoleon wildfire risk explained
Out of every US place USFS scores, Napoleon lands at the 20th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally — a figure built from its 694 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Napoleon at the 14th national percentile — 6 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Where Napoleon's buildings actually sit
USFS classifies 89.5% of Napoleon's buildings as Minimal exposure, the largest of the three zones here by a wide margin over 10.5% Direct and 0% Indirect — a landscape-level risk rather than a building-by-building one.
How Napoleon compares
There's little gap between Napoleon's 20th national percentile and its 6th percentile inside North Dakota, which means the state comparison mostly confirms what the national score already shows. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Napoleon ranks 25,252 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 14,730 by building count (1 is largest). Within North Dakota alone, it ranks 378 of 402 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for North Dakota on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
At the 20th national percentile, Napoleon rates low 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
Even with 89.5% of Napoleon 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.
Where Napoleon's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Napoleon's 25,252-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Napoleon's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.