Bayard, WV
Bayard wildfire risk explained
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Bayard at the 54th national percentile for risk to structures, modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — a score built from 225 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Bayard at the 53rd percentile, close to its 54th-percentile risk score.
Where Bayard's buildings actually sit
225 buildings are counted in Bayard, and 79.1% of them are Indirect exposure — ember-driven risk rather than the 20.9% in Direct exposure or the 0% rated Minimal.
Where Bayard ranks
Bayard's risk sits at a similar level relative to West Virginia (42nd percentile statewide) as it does nationally (54th) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Bayard ranks 14,452 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 23,967 by building count (1 is largest). Within West Virginia alone, it ranks 250 of 429 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for West Virginia on its state page.
Bayard and the insurance market
At the 54th national percentile, Bayard rates elevated for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
What would actually reduce this score
Bayard's 79.1% 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.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 225 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Bayard. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Bayard, see the exposure-zones guide.