Van Bibber Lake, IN
How exposed is Van Bibber Lake to wildfire?
Van Bibber Lake's 440 buildings earn a 14th-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Van Bibber Lake at the 14th national percentile — 0 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
90% of Van Bibber Lake's 440 buildings fall in USFS's Indirect exposure zone — ember cast rather than direct flame — against 7.1% Direct and 3% Minimal. Vent screens and roofing material matter more here than lot clearing alone.
Where Van Bibber Lake ranks
Within Indiana, Van Bibber Lake ranks higher (65th percentile) than it does nationally (14th) — one of the more fire-exposed places in a state that, overall, scores lower than that. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Van Bibber Lake ranks 27,193 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 18,453 by building count (1 is largest). Within Indiana alone, it ranks 337 of 967 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Indiana on its state page.
Van Bibber Lake and the insurance market
Van Bibber Lake's low wildfire rating (14th percentile) isn't the kind of score driving the carrier pullback making news in the highest-risk Western markets — but a standard homeowners quote is still worth comparing on its own terms.
What would actually reduce this score
Van Bibber Lake's 90% Indirect-exposure share points at embers, not flame contact, as the main pathway — ember-resistant vents and non-combustible roofing rank ahead of defensible space here. Detail in the home-hardening guide.
Where Van Bibber Lake's figures come from
Van Bibber Lake's 14th-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 Van Bibber Lake's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.