Prairie du Chien, WI
How exposed is Prairie du Chien to wildfire?
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Prairie du Chien at the 29th national percentile for risk to structures, close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range — a score built from 3,288 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Prairie du Chien's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 31st percentile nationally.
Where Prairie du Chien's buildings actually sit
Indirect exposure is dominant in Prairie du Chien (95.4% of 3,288 buildings): far enough from burnable vegetation to avoid flame contact, close enough for wind-blown embers. Only 3.5% sit in the Direct zone.
How Prairie du Chien compares
Prairie du Chien's 63rd-percentile standing inside Wisconsin outpaces its 29th 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, Prairie du Chien ranks 22,300 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 5,067 by building count (1 is largest). Within Wisconsin alone, it ranks 302 of 808 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Wisconsin on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Prairie du Chien
At the 29th national percentile, Prairie du Chien 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 ember exposure the dominant pattern in Prairie du Chien (95.4% Indirect), vent screens and roofing material tend to matter more than lot clearing alone. The home-hardening guide covers both.
More on how this number was built
Prairie du Chien's 29th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Prairie du Chien, see the exposure-zones guide.