Bethany, WV
Bethany wildfire risk explained
USFS scores Bethany at the 41st national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (modestly above the national average for wildfire risk), a figure built from 236 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Bethany's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 43rd percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
70.3% of Bethany's 236 buildings fall in USFS's Indirect exposure zone — ember cast rather than direct flame — against 29.7% Direct and 0% Minimal. Vent screens and roofing material matter more here than lot clearing alone.
Bethany against the rest of the country
Inside West Virginia, Bethany sits at just the 19th percentile even though it scores 41st nationally — the state's overall wildfire exposure is high enough to make this a relatively quiet corner of it. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Bethany ranks 18,485 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 23,617 by building count (1 is largest). Within West Virginia alone, it ranks 349 of 429 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for West Virginia on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Bethany's elevated wildfire rating (41st 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.
Hardening a home in Bethany
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in Bethany (70.3% Indirect), vent screens and roofing material tend to matter more than lot clearing alone. The home-hardening guide covers both.
Where Bethany's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Bethany's 18,485-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Bethany's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.