Spencer, IN
Spencer, IN's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Out of every US place USFS scores, Spencer lands at the 18th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally — a figure built from its 1,507 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 Spencer at the 19th percentile, close to its 18th-percentile risk score.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
USFS puts 84.2% of Spencer's 1,507 buildings in the Indirect exposure zone, versus 15.8% Direct and 0% Minimal — a place where the fire doesn't need to reach the structure directly for embers to.
Where Spencer ranks
Within Indiana, Spencer ranks higher (76th percentile) than it does nationally (18th) — one of the more fire-exposed places in a state that, overall, scores lower than that. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Spencer ranks 25,740 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 9,135 by building count (1 is largest). Within Indiana alone, it ranks 237 of 967 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Indiana on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
At the 18th national percentile, Spencer rates low for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
Hardening a home in Spencer
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in Spencer (84.2% Indirect), vent screens and roofing material tend to matter more than lot clearing alone. The home-hardening guide covers both.
Where Spencer's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Spencer's 25,740-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Spencer's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.