Spearfish, SD
How exposed is Spearfish to wildfire?
Spearfish sits at the 85th percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 4,665 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Spearfish at the 85th percentile, close to its 85th-percentile risk score.
Spearfish's building exposure, zone by zone
USFS puts 76.9% of Spearfish's 4,665 buildings in the Indirect exposure zone, versus 23.2% Direct and 0% Minimal — a place where the fire doesn't need to reach the structure directly for embers to.
Spearfish against the rest of the country
There's little gap between Spearfish's 85th national percentile and its 85th percentile inside South Dakota, which means the state comparison mostly confirms what the national score already shows. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Spearfish ranks 4,863 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 3,646 by building count (1 is largest). Within South Dakota alone, it ranks 66 of 439 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for South Dakota on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Spearfish
At the 85th percentile nationally, Spearfish 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 Spearfish
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in Spearfish (76.9% Indirect), vent screens and roofing material tend to matter more than lot clearing alone. The home-hardening guide covers both.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 4,665 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Spearfish. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Spearfish, see the exposure-zones guide.