Shawmut, MT
Shawmut wildfire risk explained
Out of every US place USFS scores, Shawmut lands at the 60th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — a figure built from its 109 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Shawmut at the 58th percentile, close to its 60th-percentile risk score.
Where Shawmut's buildings actually sit
68.8% of Shawmut's 109 buildings sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone, roughly 75 structures close enough to burnable vegetation for flame contact, not just embers — 31.2% fall in the Indirect, ember-only zone and 0% are Minimal.
How Shawmut compares
Inside Montana, Shawmut sits at just the 24th percentile even though it scores 60th 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, Shawmut ranks 12,638 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 28,664 by building count (1 is largest). Within Montana alone, it ranks 360 of 475 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Montana on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Shawmut
At the 60th national percentile, Shawmut rates elevated for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
With 68.8% of Shawmut in Direct exposure, defensible-space clearing and ember-resistant construction (vents, Class-A roofing) address the exposure this page's own numbers describe, not a generic checklist. See the home-hardening guide.
Where Shawmut's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Shawmut's 12,638-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Shawmut's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.