Wye, MT
Wye, MT's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Out of every US place USFS scores, Wye lands at the 74th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — well above the national norm for wildfire risk — a figure built from its 605 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Wye at the 74th national percentile — 0 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Wye's building exposure, zone by zone
USFS puts 63.6% of Wye's 605 buildings in the Indirect exposure zone, versus 36.4% Direct and 0% Minimal — a place where the fire doesn't need to reach the structure directly for embers to.
Wye against the rest of the country
Inside Montana, Wye sits at just the 44th percentile even though it scores 74th nationally — the state's overall wildfire exposure is high enough to make this a relatively quiet corner of it. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Wye ranks 8,101 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 15,765 by building count (1 is largest). Within Montana alone, it ranks 266 of 475 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Montana on its state page.
Wye and the insurance market
At the 74th percentile nationally, Wye carries the 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.
Hardening a home in Wye
Wye's 63.6% 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 Wye's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Wye's 8,101-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Wye's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.