Otis, CO
How exposed is Otis to wildfire?
Out of every US place USFS scores, Otis lands at the 62nd percentile for wildfire risk to structures — well above the national norm for wildfire risk — a figure built from its 431 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Otis at the 59th percentile, close to its 62nd-percentile risk score.
Where Otis's buildings actually sit
USFS classifies 78.4% of Otis's buildings as Minimal exposure, the largest of the three zones here by a wide margin over 12.1% Direct and 9.5% Indirect — a landscape-level risk rather than a building-by-building one.
Where Otis ranks
Otis ranks lower within Colorado (30th percentile statewide) than its 62nd national percentile suggests alone — a calmer spot in a state where wildfire risk generally runs high. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Otis ranks 11,906 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 18,619 by building count (1 is largest). Within Colorado alone, it ranks 333 of 472 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Colorado on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Otis's 62nd-percentile, high rating is the kind of score behind a broader national pattern: insurers pulling back from the highest wildfire-risk markets, non-renewing or declining new policies outright, most visibly in California. Shopping around, not assuming automatic renewal, tends to matter here.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Even with 78.4% of Otis 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 Otis's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 431 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Otis. The exposure-zones guide covers what Otis's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.