West Glendive, MT
West Glendive wildfire risk explained
Out of every US place USFS scores, West Glendive lands at the 74th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — well above the national norm for wildfire risk — a figure built from its 1,453 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts West Glendive at the 72nd percentile, close to its 74th-percentile risk score.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
1,453 buildings are counted in West Glendive, and 82.8% of them are Indirect exposure — ember-driven risk rather than the 17.2% in Direct exposure or the 0% rated Minimal.
How West Glendive compares
West Glendive's 74th national percentile looks worse in isolation than its 44th ranking inside Montana does — this place is on the milder end for its own state, by 30 points. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, West Glendive ranks 8,292 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 9,381 by building count (1 is largest). Within Montana alone, it ranks 270 of 475 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Montana on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
West Glendive's 74th-percentile, 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.
Hardening a home in West Glendive
West Glendive's 82.8% 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 West Glendive's figures come from
West Glendive'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 West Glendive's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.