Thunder Mountain, NM
Thunder Mountain wildfire risk explained
USFS scores Thunder Mountain at the 87th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally), a figure built from 788 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Thunder Mountain at the 85th national percentile — 2 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Direct exposure dominates in Thunder Mountain: 100% of its 788 buildings, versus 0% Indirect and 0% Minimal. Clearing space around a structure changes the outcome here more than any single building-material swap.
Thunder Mountain against the rest of the country
Thunder Mountain ranks lower within New Mexico (68th percentile statewide) than its 87th national percentile suggests alone — a calmer spot in a state where wildfire risk generally runs high. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Thunder Mountain ranks 4,046 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 13,746 by building count (1 is largest). Within New Mexico alone, it ranks 161 of 495 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for New Mexico on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Thunder Mountain
Thunder Mountain's very high rating (87th percentile) puts it among the places where the national carrier-pullback trend is most relevant — not a guarantee of a coverage problem, but a reason to shop rather than assume.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
With 100% of Thunder Mountain 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.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 788 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Thunder Mountain. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Thunder Mountain, see the exposure-zones guide.