Saddle Butte, MT
Saddle Butte, MT's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Saddle Butte's 106 buildings earn a 66th-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — well above the national norm for wildfire risk. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Saddle Butte's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 61st percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
USFS classifies 94.3% of Saddle Butte's buildings as Direct exposure, higher than its 5.7% Indirect share and far above its 0% Minimal share — a profile where 100 structures sit close enough to vegetation that lot clearing matters most.
How Saddle Butte compares
Inside Montana, Saddle Butte sits at just the 33rd percentile even though it scores 66th nationally — the state's overall wildfire exposure is high enough to make this a relatively quiet corner of it. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Saddle Butte ranks 10,845 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 28,777 by building count (1 is largest). Within Montana alone, it ranks 320 of 475 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Montana on its state page.
Saddle Butte and the insurance market
At the 66th percentile nationally, Saddle Butte carries the 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.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Because Direct exposure dominates in Saddle Butte (94.3%), the highest-leverage fix is defensible space, not roofing or vents alone — covered in the home-hardening guide.
Where Saddle Butte's figures come from
Saddle Butte's 66th-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 Saddle Butte's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.