Vivian, SD
Vivian, SD's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Vivian sits at the 80th percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 127 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Vivian at the 77th percentile, close to its 80th-percentile risk score.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
127 buildings are counted in Vivian, and 52% of them sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone — flame contact, not just ember cast, is the live possibility for most of them, against 0% rated Minimal.
Vivian against the rest of the country
Vivian's risk sits at a similar level relative to South Dakota (80th percentile statewide) as it does nationally (80th) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Vivian ranks 6,218 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 27,872 by building count (1 is largest). Within South Dakota alone, it ranks 91 of 439 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for South Dakota on its state page.
Vivian and the insurance market
Vivian's 80th-percentile, very high rating is the kind of score behind a broader national pattern: insurers pulling back from the highest wildfire-risk markets, non-renewing or declining new policies outright, most visibly in California. Shopping around, not assuming automatic renewal, tends to matter here.
What would actually reduce this score
With 52% of Vivian 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.
Where Vivian's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Vivian's 6,218-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Vivian's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.