Rapelje, MT
Rapelje, MT's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Rapelje at the 60th national percentile for risk to structures, modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — a score built from 113 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Rapelje's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 59th percentile nationally.
Where Rapelje's buildings actually sit
Most of Rapelje's buildings (54.9%) sit in the Indirect zone, where wind-blown embers rather than flame front are the mechanism USFS is scoring — ember-resistant vents and non-combustible roofing are the interventions this pattern favors, more than defensible space alone.
Where Rapelje ranks
Rapelje's 60th national percentile looks worse in isolation than its 25th ranking inside Montana does — this place is on the milder end for its own state, by 35 points. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Rapelje ranks 12,637 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 28,509 by building count (1 is largest). Within Montana alone, it ranks 359 of 475 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Montana on its state page.
Rapelje and the insurance market
At the 60th national percentile, Rapelje rates elevated for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
Hardening a home in Rapelje
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in Rapelje (54.9% 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
Every one of the two percentiles behind Rapelje's 12,637-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Rapelje, see the exposure-zones guide.