Plainwell, MI
Plainwell, MI's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Plainwell's 1,628 buildings earn a 11th-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Plainwell at the 11th national percentile — 0 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
68.6% of Plainwell's 1,628 buildings fall in USFS's Indirect exposure zone — ember cast rather than direct flame — against 8.8% Direct and 22.7% Minimal. Vent screens and roofing material matter more here than lot clearing alone.
How Plainwell compares
Compare Plainwell's two percentiles: 38th within Michigan, only 11th nationally — a gap of 27 points that marks it as unusually exposed for its own state. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Plainwell ranks 28,146 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 8,657 by building count (1 is largest). Within Michigan alone, it ranks 469 of 745 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Michigan on its state page.
Plainwell and the insurance market
Plainwell's low wildfire rating (11th percentile) isn't the kind of score driving the carrier pullback making news in the highest-risk Western markets — but a standard homeowners quote is still worth comparing on its own terms.
Hardening a home in Plainwell
Plainwell's 68.6% Indirect-exposure share points at embers, not flame contact, as the main pathway — ember-resistant vents and non-combustible roofing rank ahead of defensible space here. Detail in the home-hardening guide.
Where Plainwell's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 1,628 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Plainwell. The exposure-zones guide covers what Plainwell's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.