White Pine, MI
White Pine wildfire risk explained
White Pine's 426 buildings earn a 45th-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, White Pine's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 45th percentile nationally.
Where White Pine's buildings actually sit
Indirect exposure is dominant in White Pine (55.2% of 426 buildings): far enough from burnable vegetation to avoid flame contact, close enough for wind-blown embers. Only 44.8% sit in the Direct zone.
How White Pine compares
Compare White Pine's two percentiles: 93rd within Michigan, only 45th nationally — a gap of 48 points that marks it as unusually exposed for its own state. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, White Pine ranks 17,305 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 18,732 by building count (1 is largest). Within Michigan alone, it ranks 52 of 745 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Michigan on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
White Pine's elevated wildfire rating (45th 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
White Pine's 55.2% 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 White Pine's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind White Pine's 17,305-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what White Pine's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.