Apple Grove, WV
Apple Grove, WV's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
USFS scores Apple Grove at the 49th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (modestly above the national average for wildfire risk), a figure built from 240 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Apple Grove at the 51st national percentile — 1 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Indirect exposure is dominant in Apple Grove (57.1% of 240 buildings): far enough from burnable vegetation to avoid flame contact, close enough for wind-blown embers. Only 42.9% sit in the Direct zone.
Apple Grove against the rest of the country
There's little gap between Apple Grove's 49th national percentile and its 36th percentile inside West Virginia, which means the state comparison mostly confirms what the national score already shows. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Apple Grove ranks 16,059 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 23,489 by building count (1 is largest). Within West Virginia alone, it ranks 273 of 429 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for West Virginia on its state page.
Apple Grove and the insurance market
Apple Grove's elevated rating (49th percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
What would actually reduce this score
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in Apple Grove (57.1% Indirect), vent screens and roofing material tend to matter more than lot clearing alone. The home-hardening guide covers both.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 240 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Apple Grove. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Apple Grove, see the exposure-zones guide.