Running Water, SD
Running Water, SD's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
USFS scores Running Water at the 79th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (well above the national norm for wildfire risk), a figure built from 79 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Running Water at the 74th national percentile — 5 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Running Water's building exposure, zone by zone
USFS classifies 97.5% of Running Water's buildings as Direct exposure, higher than its 2.5% Indirect share and far above its 0% Minimal share — a profile where 77 structures sit close enough to vegetation that lot clearing matters most.
How Running Water compares
Running Water's risk sits at a similar level relative to South Dakota (78th percentile statewide) as it does nationally (79th) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Running Water ranks 6,722 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 29,945 by building count (1 is largest). Within South Dakota alone, it ranks 98 of 439 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for South Dakota on its state page.
Running Water and the insurance market
Running Water's 79th-percentile, high rating is the kind of score behind a broader national pattern: insurers pulling back from the highest wildfire-risk markets, non-renewing or declining new policies outright, most visibly in California. Shopping around, not assuming automatic renewal, tends to matter here.
Hardening a home in Running Water
Because Direct exposure dominates in Running Water (97.5%), the highest-leverage fix is defensible space, not roofing or vents alone — covered in the home-hardening guide.
Where Running Water's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 79 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Running Water. The exposure-zones guide covers what Running Water's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.