Bells, TX
Bells, TX's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Bells at the 74th national percentile for risk to structures, well above the national norm for wildfire risk — a score built from 840 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Bells's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 74th percentile nationally.
Bells's building exposure, zone by zone
840 buildings are counted in Bells, and 64.3% of them sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone — flame contact, not just ember cast, is the live possibility for most of them, against 0% rated Minimal.
Bells against the rest of the country
Bells's 74th national percentile looks worse in isolation than its 44th ranking inside Texas does — this place is on the milder end for its own state, by 31 points. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Bells ranks 8,172 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 13,254 by building count (1 is largest). Within Texas alone, it ranks 1,014 of 1,795 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Texas on its state page.
Bells and the insurance market
Bells's 74th-percentile, high rating is the kind of score behind a broader national pattern: insurers pulling back from the highest wildfire-risk markets, non-renewing or declining new policies outright, most visibly in California. Shopping around, not assuming automatic renewal, tends to matter here.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Because Direct exposure dominates in Bells (64.3%), the highest-leverage fix is defensible space, not roofing or vents alone — covered in the home-hardening guide.
Where Bells's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 840 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Bells. The exposure-zones guide covers what Bells's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.