Ogallala, NE
How exposed is Ogallala to wildfire?
USFS scores Ogallala at the 66th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (well above the national norm for wildfire risk), a figure built from 3,146 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Ogallala at the 65th national percentile — 1 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
3,146 buildings are counted in Ogallala, and 88% of them are Indirect exposure — ember-driven risk rather than the 7.4% in Direct exposure or the 4.6% rated Minimal.
Ogallala against the rest of the country
Ogallala scores 66th nationally and 59th within Nebraska — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Ogallala ranks 10,814 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 5,235 by building count (1 is largest). Within Nebraska alone, it ranks 237 of 583 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Nebraska on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
At the 66th percentile nationally, Ogallala carries the high rating that has pushed some carriers to limit new business in similarly-scored places elsewhere in the country. Worth comparing quotes rather than assuming last year's renewal terms still apply.
Hardening a home in Ogallala
Because 88% of Ogallala's buildings sit in the Indirect zone, sealing the ember pathway (vents, roofing, gutters) is the intervention this page's data actually supports — see the home-hardening guide.
Where Ogallala's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 3,146 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Ogallala. The exposure-zones guide covers what Ogallala's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.