Bella Vista, AR
Bella Vista wildfire risk explained
USFS scores Bella Vista at the 75th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (well above the national norm for wildfire risk), a figure built from 13,984 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Bella Vista's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 77th percentile nationally.
Bella Vista's building exposure, zone by zone
13,984 buildings are counted in Bella Vista, and 93.8% of them sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone — flame contact, not just ember cast, is the live possibility for most of them, against 1% rated Minimal. At 13,984 buildings, this is a substantial built environment, so the shares below describe a real population of structures, not a handful of edge cases.
How Bella Vista compares
Bella Vista scores 75th nationally and 66th within Arkansas — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Bella Vista ranks 7,774 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 1,074 by building count (1 is largest). Within Arkansas alone, it ranks 210 of 614 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Arkansas on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Bella Vista's high rating (75th percentile) puts it among the places where the national carrier-pullback trend is most relevant — not a guarantee of a coverage problem, but a reason to shop rather than assume.
Hardening a home in Bella Vista
Because Direct exposure dominates in Bella Vista (93.8%), the highest-leverage fix is defensible space, not roofing or vents alone — covered in the home-hardening guide.
Where Bella Vista's figures come from
Bella Vista's 75th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Bella Vista's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.