Belfry, KY
How exposed is Belfry to wildfire?
Out of every US place USFS scores, Belfry lands at the 93rd percentile for wildfire risk to structures — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — a figure built from its 182 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Belfry at the 96th national percentile — 2 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
USFS puts 72.5% of Belfry's 182 buildings in the Indirect exposure zone, versus 27.5% Direct and 0% Minimal — a place where the fire doesn't need to reach the structure directly for embers to.
How Belfry compares
Belfry's risk sits at a similar level relative to Kentucky (98th percentile statewide) as it does nationally (93rd) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Belfry ranks 2,105 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 25,534 by building count (1 is largest). Within Kentucky alone, it ranks 13 of 552 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Kentucky on its state page.
Belfry and the insurance market
At the 93rd percentile nationally, Belfry carries the very 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
Belfry's 72.5% 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
Belfry's 93rd-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Belfry, see the exposure-zones guide.