Oacoma, SD
Oacoma wildfire risk explained
Oacoma's 369 buildings earn a 73rd-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — well above the national norm for wildfire risk. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Oacoma's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 73rd percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
USFS puts 65.3% of Oacoma's 369 buildings in the Indirect exposure zone, versus 34.4% Direct and 0.3% Minimal — a place where the fire doesn't need to reach the structure directly for embers to.
How Oacoma compares
Oacoma scores 73rd nationally and 72nd within South Dakota — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Oacoma ranks 8,487 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 19,893 by building count (1 is largest). Within South Dakota alone, it ranks 126 of 439 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for South Dakota on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Oacoma's high rating (73rd percentile) puts it among the places where the national carrier-pullback trend is most relevant — not a guarantee of a coverage problem, but a reason to shop rather than assume.
Hardening a home in Oacoma
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in Oacoma (65.3% Indirect), vent screens and roofing material tend to matter more than lot clearing alone. The home-hardening guide covers both.
Where Oacoma's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Oacoma's 8,487-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Oacoma's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.