Northwood, ND
Northwood, ND's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Northwood sits at the 41st percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 698 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Northwood at the 39th percentile, close to its 41st-percentile risk score.
Northwood's building exposure, zone by zone
USFS classifies 82.8% of Northwood's buildings as Minimal exposure, the largest of the three zones here by a wide margin over 17.2% Direct and 0% Indirect — a landscape-level risk rather than a building-by-building one.
Northwood against the rest of the country
There's little gap between Northwood's 41st national percentile and its 26th 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, Northwood ranks 18,662 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 14,676 by building count (1 is largest). Within North Dakota alone, it ranks 295 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 41st national percentile, Northwood 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
Even with 82.8% of Northwood 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 Northwood's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Northwood's 18,662-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Northwood's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.