Bell Buckle, TN
Bell Buckle wildfire risk explained
Bell Buckle's 319 buildings earn a 35th-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Bell Buckle at the 38th percentile, close to its 35th-percentile risk score.
Bell Buckle's building exposure, zone by zone
Of Bell Buckle's 319 counted buildings, 57.4% carry Direct exposure and only 0% carry Minimal — a lopsided split that puts defensible-space clearing ahead of vents or roofing as the intervention worth doing first.
Where Bell Buckle ranks
There's little gap between Bell Buckle's 35th national percentile and its 24th percentile inside Tennessee, which means the state comparison mostly confirms what the national score already shows. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Bell Buckle ranks 20,533 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 21,131 by building count (1 is largest). Within Tennessee alone, it ranks 381 of 502 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Tennessee on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Bell Buckle
At the 35th national percentile, Bell Buckle rates moderate for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
With 57.4% of Bell Buckle in Direct exposure, defensible-space clearing and ember-resistant construction (vents, Class-A roofing) address the exposure this page's own numbers describe, not a generic checklist. See the home-hardening guide.
Where Bell Buckle's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 319 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Bell Buckle. The exposure-zones guide covers what Bell Buckle's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.