Buckhorn, KY
How exposed is Buckhorn to wildfire?
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Buckhorn at the 92nd national percentile for risk to structures, in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — a score built from 102 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Buckhorn's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 94th percentile nationally.
Buckhorn's building exposure, zone by zone
Direct exposure dominates in Buckhorn: 73.5% of its 102 buildings, versus 26.5% Indirect and 0% Minimal. Clearing space around a structure changes the outcome here more than any single building-material swap.
How Buckhorn compares
Buckhorn's risk sits at a similar level relative to Kentucky (95th percentile statewide) as it does nationally (92nd) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Buckhorn ranks 2,580 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 28,951 by building count (1 is largest). Within Kentucky alone, it ranks 31 of 552 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Kentucky on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
At the 92nd percentile nationally, Buckhorn carries the very high rating that has pushed some carriers to limit new business in similarly-scored places elsewhere in the country. Worth comparing quotes rather than assuming last year's renewal terms still apply.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Buckhorn's 73.5% 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.
Where Buckhorn's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Buckhorn's 2,580-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Buckhorn's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.