Atkins, VA
Atkins, VA's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Atkins sits at the 73rd percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — well above the national norm for wildfire risk — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 1,052 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Atkins's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 74th percentile nationally.
Where Atkins's buildings actually sit
Direct exposure dominates in Atkins: 54.8% of its 1,052 buildings, versus 45.3% Indirect and 0% Minimal. Clearing space around a structure changes the outcome here more than any single building-material swap.
Where Atkins ranks
Atkins's risk sits at a similar level relative to Virginia (87th percentile statewide) as it does nationally (73rd) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Atkins ranks 8,653 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 11,586 by building count (1 is largest). Within Virginia alone, it ranks 90 of 681 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Virginia on its state page.
Atkins and the insurance market
Atkins's 73rd-percentile, high rating is the kind of score behind a broader national pattern: insurers pulling back from the highest wildfire-risk markets, non-renewing or declining new policies outright, most visibly in California. Shopping around, not assuming automatic renewal, tends to matter here.
What would actually reduce this score
Because Direct exposure dominates in Atkins (54.8%), the highest-leverage fix is defensible space, not roofing or vents alone — covered in the home-hardening guide.
Where Atkins's figures come from
Atkins's 73rd-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 Atkins's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.