Brenton, WV
Brenton wildfire risk explained
Brenton's 201 buildings earn a 90th-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Brenton at the 92nd national percentile — 2 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Brenton's building exposure, zone by zone
53.2% of Brenton's 201 buildings fall in USFS's Indirect exposure zone — ember cast rather than direct flame — against 46.8% Direct and 0% Minimal. Vent screens and roofing material matter more here than lot clearing alone.
Where Brenton ranks
Brenton scores 90th nationally and 82nd within West Virginia — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Brenton ranks 3,136 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 24,824 by building count (1 is largest). Within West Virginia alone, it ranks 80 of 429 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for West Virginia on its state page.
Brenton and the insurance market
Brenton's 90th-percentile, very 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.
What would actually reduce this score
Brenton's 53.2% Indirect-exposure share points at embers, not flame contact, as the main pathway — ember-resistant vents and non-combustible roofing rank ahead of defensible space here. Detail in the home-hardening guide.
Where Brenton's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 201 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Brenton. The exposure-zones guide covers what Brenton's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.