Potter Lake, WI
Potter Lake, WI's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Potter Lake sits at the 28th percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 655 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Potter Lake at the 29th national percentile — 1 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Where Potter Lake's buildings actually sit
Of Potter Lake's 655 counted buildings, 63.5% carry Direct exposure and only 36.5% carry Minimal — a lopsided split that puts defensible-space clearing ahead of vents or roofing as the intervention worth doing first.
Potter Lake against the rest of the country
Compare Potter Lake's two percentiles: 59th within Wisconsin, only 28th nationally — a gap of 31 points that marks it as unusually exposed for its own state. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Potter Lake ranks 22,678 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 15,143 by building count (1 is largest). Within Wisconsin alone, it ranks 336 of 808 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Wisconsin on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Potter Lake
At the 28th national percentile, Potter Lake rates moderate for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
What would actually reduce this score
With 63.5% of Potter Lake 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 Potter Lake's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Potter Lake's 22,678-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Potter Lake's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.