Buffalo, WV
How exposed is Buffalo to wildfire?
USFS scores Buffalo at the 55th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (modestly above the national average for wildfire risk), a figure built from 819 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Buffalo at the 57th percentile, close to its 55th-percentile risk score.
Where Buffalo's buildings actually sit
Indirect exposure is dominant in Buffalo (58% of 819 buildings): far enough from burnable vegetation to avoid flame contact, close enough for wind-blown embers. Only 39.8% sit in the Direct zone.
Where Buffalo ranks
There's little gap between Buffalo's 55th national percentile and its 44th percentile inside West Virginia, which means the state comparison mostly confirms what the national score already shows. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Buffalo ranks 14,169 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 13,467 by building count (1 is largest). Within West Virginia alone, it ranks 242 of 429 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for West Virginia on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Buffalo's elevated rating (55th percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Buffalo's 58% 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 Buffalo's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Buffalo's 14,169-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Buffalo's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.