Tomah, WI
Tomah wildfire risk explained
Tomah sits at the 31st percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 4,335 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Tomah's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 31st percentile nationally.
Where Tomah's buildings actually sit
Most of Tomah's buildings (71.7% of 4,335) fall outside USFS's Direct and Indirect zones entirely — that doesn't zero out the score above, it means the risk is regional, not structure-by-structure.
Tomah against the rest of the country
Compare Tomah's two percentiles: 67th within Wisconsin, only 31st nationally — a gap of 36 points that marks it as unusually exposed for its own state. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Tomah ranks 21,797 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 3,955 by building count (1 is largest). Within Wisconsin alone, it ranks 268 of 808 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Wisconsin on its state page.
Tomah and the insurance market
At the 31st national percentile, Tomah rates moderate for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
What would actually reduce this score
Even with 71.7% of Tomah 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.
More on how this number was built
Tomah's 31st-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. For more on what minimal exposure implies beyond Tomah, see the exposure-zones guide.