Union, MO
How exposed is Union to wildfire?
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Union at the 55th national percentile for risk to structures, modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — a score built from 4,874 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Union's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 56th percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Most of Union's buildings (75.6%) sit in the Indirect zone, where wind-blown embers rather than flame front are the mechanism USFS is scoring — ember-resistant vents and non-combustible roofing are the interventions this pattern favors, more than defensible space alone.
How Union compares
Union's risk sits at a similar level relative to Missouri (42nd percentile statewide) as it does nationally (55th) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Union ranks 14,244 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 3,512 by building count (1 is largest). Within Missouri alone, it ranks 617 of 1,062 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Missouri on its state page.
Union and the insurance market
Union's elevated rating (55th percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
Hardening a home in Union
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in Union (75.6% Indirect), vent screens and roofing material tend to matter more than lot clearing alone. The home-hardening guide covers both.
More on how this number was built
Union's 55th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Union, see the exposure-zones guide.