Portis, KS
Portis wildfire risk explained
Portis's 166 buildings earn a 49th-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Portis's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 47th percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
USFS puts 88.6% of Portis's 166 buildings in the Indirect exposure zone, versus 11.5% Direct and 0% Minimal — a place where the fire doesn't need to reach the structure directly for embers to.
How Portis compares
Portis's 49th national percentile looks worse in isolation than its 30th ranking inside Kansas does — this place is on the milder end for its own state, by 19 points. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Portis ranks 16,065 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 26,169 by building count (1 is largest). Within Kansas alone, it ranks 508 of 721 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Kansas on its state page.
Portis and the insurance market
Portis's elevated rating (49th percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
Hardening a home in Portis
Portis's 88.6% 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 Portis's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 166 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Portis. The exposure-zones guide covers what Portis's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.