Big Stone Gap East, VA
Big Stone Gap East, VA's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Big Stone Gap East sits at the 88th percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 437 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Big Stone Gap East's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 90th percentile nationally.
Where Big Stone Gap East's buildings actually sit
Most of Big Stone Gap East's buildings (87.4%) sit in the Indirect zone, where wind-blown embers rather than flame front are the mechanism USFS is scoring — ember-resistant vents and non-combustible roofing are the interventions this pattern favors, more than defensible space alone.
Big Stone Gap East against the rest of the country
Big Stone Gap East's risk sits at a similar level relative to Virginia (97th percentile statewide) as it does nationally (88th) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Big Stone Gap East ranks 3,826 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 18,526 by building count (1 is largest). Within Virginia alone, it ranks 22 of 681 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Virginia on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Big Stone Gap East
Big Stone Gap East's very high rating (88th 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 Big Stone Gap East
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in Big Stone Gap East (87.4% Indirect), vent screens and roofing material tend to matter more than lot clearing alone. The home-hardening guide covers both.
Where Big Stone Gap East's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Big Stone Gap East's 3,826-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Big Stone Gap East's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.