Big Sandy, TN
How exposed is Big Sandy to wildfire?
Out of every US place USFS scores, Big Sandy lands at the 50th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — a figure built from its 392 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Big Sandy at the 51st national percentile — 2 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Big Sandy's building exposure, zone by zone
392 buildings are counted in Big Sandy, and 74% 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.
Where Big Sandy ranks
Big Sandy scores 50th nationally and 43rd within Tennessee — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Big Sandy ranks 15,806 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 19,383 by building count (1 is largest). Within Tennessee alone, it ranks 286 of 502 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Tennessee on its state page.
Big Sandy and the insurance market
At the 50th national percentile, Big Sandy rates elevated for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
What would actually reduce this score
Big Sandy's 74% Direct-exposure share means lot clearing around the structure typically outweighs any single material upgrade here. The home-hardening guide ranks the options for a place shaped like this.
More on how this number was built
Big Sandy's 50th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Big Sandy, see the exposure-zones guide.