Bristol, VT
Bristol, VT's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
USFS scores Bristol at the 16th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally), a figure built from 1,082 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Bristol's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 16th percentile nationally.
Bristol's building exposure, zone by zone
Most of Bristol's buildings (65.8%) 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.
Bristol against the rest of the country
Within Vermont, Bristol ranks higher (60th percentile) than it does nationally (16th) — one of the more fire-exposed places in a state that, overall, scores lower than that. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Bristol ranks 26,424 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 11,401 by building count (1 is largest). Within Vermont alone, it ranks 70 of 179 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Vermont on its state page.
Bristol and the insurance market
At the 16th national percentile, Bristol rates low for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Because 65.8% of Bristol's buildings sit in the Indirect zone, sealing the ember pathway (vents, roofing, gutters) is the intervention this page's data actually supports — see the home-hardening guide.
Where Bristol's figures come from
Bristol's 16th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Bristol's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.