Third Lake, IL
How exposed is Third Lake to wildfire?
Out of every US place USFS scores, Third Lake lands at the 39th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range — a figure built from its 523 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Third Lake at the 40th national percentile — 1 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Where Third Lake's buildings actually sit
Only 18.9% of Third Lake's 523 buildings carry Direct exposure and 0% carry Indirect; the remaining 81.1% are Minimal, which shifts the risk driving this page's score toward the surrounding landscape rather than any one structure.
Third Lake against the rest of the country
Third Lake's 91st-percentile standing inside Illinois outpaces its 39th national percentile — this is a hotter spot than most of its own state, even though the state as a whole runs cooler nationally. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Third Lake ranks 19,372 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 16,978 by building count (1 is largest). Within Illinois alone, it ranks 132 of 1,445 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Illinois on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Third Lake
Third Lake's moderate rating (39th 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 81.1% of Third Lake 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 Third Lake's figures come from
Third Lake's 39th-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 Third Lake's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.