Rapid Valley, SD
How exposed is Rapid Valley to wildfire?
Rapid Valley's 3,917 buildings earn a 87th-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Rapid Valley at the 87th percentile, close to its 87th-percentile risk score.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
USFS puts 82.8% of Rapid Valley's 3,917 buildings in the Indirect exposure zone, versus 17.2% Direct and 0% Minimal — a place where the fire doesn't need to reach the structure directly for embers to.
Rapid Valley against the rest of the country
Rapid Valley's risk sits at a similar level relative to South Dakota (87th percentile statewide) as it does nationally (87th) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Rapid Valley ranks 4,257 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 4,319 by building count (1 is largest). Within South Dakota alone, it ranks 56 of 439 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for South Dakota on its state page.
Rapid Valley and the insurance market
At the 87th percentile nationally, Rapid Valley carries the very 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.
Hardening a home in Rapid Valley
Because 82.8% of Rapid Valley's buildings sit in the Indirect zone, sealing the ember pathway (vents, roofing, gutters) is the intervention this page's data actually supports — see the home-hardening guide.
Where Rapid Valley's figures come from
Rapid Valley's 87th-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 Rapid Valley's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.