Turtle Lake, MT
How exposed is Turtle Lake to wildfire?
USFS scores Turtle Lake at the 88th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally), a figure built from 78 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Turtle Lake's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 88th percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
76.9% of Turtle Lake's 78 buildings sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone, roughly 60 structures close enough to burnable vegetation for flame contact, not just embers — 23.1% fall in the Indirect, ember-only zone and 0% are Minimal.
Where Turtle Lake ranks
Turtle Lake ranks lower within Montana (70th percentile statewide) than its 88th national percentile suggests alone — a calmer spot in a state where wildfire risk generally runs high. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Turtle Lake ranks 3,938 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 29,972 by building count (1 is largest). Within Montana alone, it ranks 146 of 475 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Montana on its state page.
Turtle Lake and the insurance market
Turtle Lake's very high rating (88th 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.
What would actually reduce this score
Turtle Lake's 76.9% Direct-exposure share means lot clearing around the structure typically outweighs any single material upgrade here. The home-hardening guide ranks the options for a place shaped like this.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 78 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Turtle Lake. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Turtle Lake, see the exposure-zones guide.