Bartow, WV
How exposed is Bartow to wildfire?
USFS scores Bartow at the 47th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (modestly above the national average for wildfire risk), a figure built from 149 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Bartow at the 48th percentile, close to its 47th-percentile risk score.
Where Bartow's buildings actually sit
Direct exposure dominates in Bartow: 74.5% of its 149 buildings, versus 25.5% Indirect and 0% Minimal. Clearing space around a structure changes the outcome here more than any single building-material swap.
Bartow against the rest of the country
Bartow's risk sits at a similar level relative to West Virginia (34th percentile statewide) as it does nationally (47th) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Bartow ranks 16,625 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 26,935 by building count (1 is largest). Within West Virginia alone, it ranks 285 of 429 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for West Virginia on its state page.
Bartow and the insurance market
Bartow's elevated wildfire rating (47th 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
Because Direct exposure dominates in Bartow (74.5%), the highest-leverage fix is defensible space, not roofing or vents alone — covered in the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 149 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Bartow. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Bartow, see the exposure-zones guide.