Bethune, SC
How exposed is Bethune to wildfire?
Bethune sits at the 73rd percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — well above the national norm for wildfire risk — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 387 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 Bethune at the 74th percentile, close to its 73rd-percentile risk score.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Of Bethune's 387 counted buildings, 54.3% 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.
How Bethune compares
Bethune's risk sits at a similar level relative to South Carolina (69th percentile statewide) as it does nationally (73rd) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Bethune ranks 8,454 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 19,475 by building count (1 is largest). Within South Carolina alone, it ranks 145 of 474 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for South Carolina on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Bethune
Bethune's high rating (73rd 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.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
With 54.3% of Bethune 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 Bethune's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Bethune's 8,454-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Bethune's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.