Wadena, MN
Wadena wildfire risk explained
Out of every US place USFS scores, Wadena lands at the 74th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — well above the national norm for wildfire risk — a figure built from its 2,288 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Wadena at the 69th national percentile — 5 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Wadena's building exposure, zone by zone
52% of Wadena's 2,288 buildings fall in USFS's Indirect exposure zone — ember cast rather than direct flame — against 19.8% Direct and 28.2% Minimal. Vent screens and roofing material matter more here than lot clearing alone.
Wadena against the rest of the country
Wadena's 95th-percentile standing inside Minnesota outpaces its 74th national percentile — this is a hotter spot than most of its own state, even though the state as a whole runs cooler nationally. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Wadena ranks 8,284 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 6,728 by building count (1 is largest). Within Minnesota alone, it ranks 44 of 914 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Minnesota on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Wadena
Wadena's high rating (74th 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.
Hardening a home in Wadena
Because 52% of Wadena's buildings sit in the Indirect zone, sealing the ember pathway (vents, roofing, gutters) is the intervention this page's data actually supports — see the home-hardening guide.
Where Wadena's figures come from
Wadena's 74th-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 Wadena's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.