White Signal, NM
White Signal wildfire risk explained
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts White Signal at the 82nd national percentile for risk to structures, in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — a score built from 165 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks White Signal at the 82nd national percentile — 0 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Direct exposure dominates in White Signal: 100% of its 165 buildings, versus 0% Indirect and 0% Minimal. Clearing space around a structure changes the outcome here more than any single building-material swap.
How White Signal compares
White Signal's 82nd national percentile looks worse in isolation than its 57th ranking inside New Mexico does — this place is on the milder end for its own state, by 25 points. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, White Signal ranks 5,582 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 26,228 by building count (1 is largest). Within New Mexico alone, it ranks 214 of 495 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for New Mexico on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in White Signal
At the 82nd percentile nationally, White Signal carries the very high rating that has pushed some carriers to limit new business in similarly-scored places elsewhere in the country. Worth comparing quotes rather than assuming last year's renewal terms still apply.
What would actually reduce this score
White Signal's 100% Direct-exposure share means lot clearing around the structure typically outweighs any single material upgrade here. The home-hardening guide ranks the options for a place shaped like this.
Where White Signal's figures come from
White Signal's 82nd-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 White Signal's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.