Sheldon, WI
How exposed is Sheldon to wildfire?
USFS scores Sheldon at the 6th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally), a figure built from 229 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Sheldon at the 6th national percentile — 0 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Sheldon's building exposure, zone by zone
66.4% of Sheldon's 229 buildings sit in USFS's Minimal exposure zone, with only 33.6% rated Direct — risk here comes from regional burn probability more than proximity to burnable vegetation at the structure itself.
Where Sheldon ranks
Sheldon scores 6th nationally and 1st within Wisconsin — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Sheldon ranks 29,803 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 23,843 by building count (1 is largest). Within Wisconsin alone, it ranks 799 of 808 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Wisconsin on its state page.
Sheldon and the insurance market
Sheldon's low rating (6th percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
What would actually reduce this score
Even with 66.4% of Sheldon outside USFS's Direct and Indirect zones, basic hardening — gutter maintenance, ember-resistant vents — is inexpensive relative to the regional burn-probability risk noted above. Details in the home-hardening guide.
Where Sheldon's figures come from
Sheldon's 6th-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 Sheldon's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.