Westphalia, MI
Westphalia, MI's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Out of every US place USFS scores, Westphalia lands at the 2nd percentile for wildfire risk to structures — among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally — a figure built from its 539 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Westphalia's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 2nd percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Westphalia rates 77.6% Minimal exposure against just 22.5% Direct and 0% Indirect — of 539 buildings counted, few sit close enough to burnable vegetation for USFS to flag them individually.
Where Westphalia ranks
Westphalia's risk sits at a similar level relative to Michigan (2nd percentile statewide) as it does nationally (2nd) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Westphalia ranks 31,049 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 16,731 by building count (1 is largest). Within Michigan alone, it ranks 732 of 745 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Michigan on its state page.
Westphalia and the insurance market
Westphalia's low wildfire rating (2nd 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
Even with 77.6% of Westphalia outside USFS's Direct and Indirect zones, basic hardening — gutter maintenance, ember-resistant vents — is inexpensive relative to the regional burn-probability risk noted above. Details in the home-hardening guide.
Where Westphalia's figures come from
Westphalia's 2nd-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 Westphalia's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.