Wardell, MO
How exposed is Wardell to wildfire?
USFS scores Wardell at the 2nd national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally), a figure built from 271 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Wardell at the 2nd percentile, close to its 2nd-percentile risk score.
Wardell's building exposure, zone by zone
Only 27.3% of Wardell's 271 buildings carry Direct exposure and 0% carry Indirect; the remaining 72.7% are Minimal, which shifts the risk driving this page's score toward the surrounding landscape rather than any one structure.
How Wardell compares
Wardell scores 2nd nationally and 2nd within Missouri — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Wardell ranks 31,051 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 22,474 by building count (1 is largest). Within Missouri alone, it ranks 1,042 of 1,062 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Missouri on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Wardell
At the 2nd national percentile, Wardell rates low for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
With 72.7% of buildings rated Minimal exposure, Wardell gets less benefit from structure hardening than a Direct- or Indirect-dominant place would — the home-hardening guide explains why the zone matters.
Where Wardell's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Wardell's 31,051-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Wardell's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.