Cascades, VA
Cascades wildfire risk explained
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Cascades at the 13th national percentile for risk to structures, among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally — a score built from 2,267 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Cascades at the 13th national percentile — 0 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Most of Cascades's buildings (76.4%) 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.
Where Cascades ranks
Cascades scores 13th nationally and 4th 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, Cascades ranks 27,467 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 6,779 by building count (1 is largest). Within Virginia alone, it ranks 654 of 681 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Virginia on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
At the 13th national percentile, Cascades 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 76.4% of Cascades'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 Cascades's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Cascades's 27,467-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Cascades's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.