Bell Hill, WA
Bell Hill wildfire risk explained
Bell Hill sits at the 37th percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 653 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (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 Hill at the 36th percentile, close to its 37th-percentile risk score.
Bell Hill's building exposure, zone by zone
Direct exposure dominates in Bell Hill: 74% of its 653 buildings, versus 26% Indirect and 0% Minimal. Clearing space around a structure changes the outcome here more than any single building-material swap.
Bell Hill against the rest of the country
Bell Hill's 55th-percentile standing inside Washington outpaces its 37th national percentile — this is a hotter spot than most of its own state, even though the state as a whole runs cooler nationally. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Bell Hill ranks 19,841 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 15,171 by building count (1 is largest). Within Washington alone, it ranks 280 of 628 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Washington on its state page.
Bell Hill and the insurance market
Bell Hill's moderate wildfire rating (37th 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
With 74% of Bell Hill 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.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 653 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Bell Hill. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Bell Hill, see the exposure-zones guide.