Pontiac, MO
Pontiac, MO's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Pontiac's 288 buildings earn a 80th-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.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Pontiac at the 81st national percentile — 1 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Pontiac's building exposure, zone by zone
Of Pontiac's 288 counted buildings, 98.3% carry Direct exposure and only 0.7% carry Minimal — a lopsided split that puts defensible-space clearing ahead of vents or roofing as the intervention worth doing first.
Pontiac against the rest of the country
Pontiac's 96th-percentile standing inside Missouri outpaces its 80th national percentile — this is a hotter spot than most of its own state, even though the state as a whole runs cooler nationally. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Pontiac ranks 6,466 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 21,966 by building count (1 is largest). Within Missouri alone, it ranks 40 of 1,062 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Missouri on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Pontiac
At the 80th percentile nationally, Pontiac 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.
What would actually reduce this score
With 98.3% of Pontiac in Direct exposure, defensible-space clearing and ember-resistant construction (vents, Class-A roofing) address the exposure this page's own numbers describe, not a generic checklist. See the home-hardening guide.
Where Pontiac's figures come from
Pontiac's 80th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Pontiac's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.