Brightwood, VA
Brightwood wildfire risk explained
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Brightwood at the 47th national percentile for risk to structures, modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — a score built from 721 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Brightwood at the 47th percentile, close to its 47th-percentile risk score.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
USFS classifies 97.5% of Brightwood's buildings as Direct exposure, higher than its 2.5% Indirect share and far above its 0% Minimal share — a profile where 703 structures sit close enough to vegetation that lot clearing matters most.
Where Brightwood ranks
Brightwood scores 47th nationally and 47th within 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, Brightwood ranks 16,782 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 14,445 by building count (1 is largest). Within Virginia alone, it ranks 361 of 681 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Virginia on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Brightwood
Brightwood's elevated wildfire rating (47th 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.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
With 97.5% of Brightwood 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 Brightwood's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Brightwood's 16,782-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Brightwood's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.