Bedford, VA
How exposed is Bedford to wildfire?
Out of every US place USFS scores, Bedford lands at the 61st percentile for wildfire risk to structures — well above the national norm for wildfire risk — a figure built from its 3,888 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Bedford at the 64th percentile, close to its 61st-percentile risk score.
Bedford's building exposure, zone by zone
Indirect exposure is dominant in Bedford (56.3% of 3,888 buildings): far enough from burnable vegetation to avoid flame contact, close enough for wind-blown embers. Only 43.8% sit in the Direct zone.
Where Bedford ranks
There's little gap between Bedford's 61st national percentile and its 68th percentile inside Virginia, which means the state comparison mostly confirms what the national score already shows. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Bedford ranks 12,306 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 4,351 by building count (1 is largest). Within Virginia alone, it ranks 220 of 681 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Virginia on its state page.
Bedford and the insurance market
At the 61st percentile nationally, Bedford 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.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Because 56.3% of Bedford's buildings sit in the Indirect zone, sealing the ember pathway (vents, roofing, gutters) is the intervention this page's data actually supports — see the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 3,888 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Bedford. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Bedford, see the exposure-zones guide.