Buena Vista, VA
Buena Vista, VA's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Buena Vista sits at the 78th percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — well above the national norm for wildfire risk — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 3,249 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Buena Vista at the 76th percentile, close to its 78th-percentile risk score.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
84.5% of Buena Vista's 3,249 buildings fall in USFS's Indirect exposure zone — ember cast rather than direct flame — against 15.5% Direct and 0% Minimal. Vent screens and roofing material matter more here than lot clearing alone.
Where Buena Vista ranks
Buena Vista's risk sits at a similar level relative to Virginia (91st percentile statewide) as it does nationally (78th) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Buena Vista ranks 6,824 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 5,102 by building count (1 is largest). Within Virginia alone, it ranks 60 of 681 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Virginia on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Buena Vista
Buena Vista's 78th-percentile, 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.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Buena Vista's 84.5% 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 Buena Vista's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Buena Vista's 6,824-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Buena Vista's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.