Cheval, FL
How exposed is Cheval to wildfire?
USFS scores Cheval at the 82nd national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally), a figure built from 3,144 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 Cheval at the 81st percentile, close to its 82nd-percentile risk score.
Where Cheval's buildings actually sit
Cheval rates 42.3% Minimal exposure against just 26.9% Direct and 30.8% Indirect — of 3,144 buildings counted, few sit close enough to burnable vegetation for USFS to flag them individually.
Cheval against the rest of the country
Cheval ranks lower within Florida (52nd percentile statewide) than its 82nd national percentile suggests alone — a calmer spot in a state where wildfire risk generally runs high. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Cheval ranks 5,791 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 5,236 by building count (1 is largest). Within Florida alone, it ranks 452 of 955 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Florida on its state page.
Cheval and the insurance market
Cheval's very high rating (82nd percentile) puts it among the places where the national carrier-pullback trend is most relevant — not a guarantee of a coverage problem, but a reason to shop rather than assume.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Even with 42.3% of Cheval outside USFS's Direct and Indirect zones, basic hardening — gutter maintenance, ember-resistant vents — is inexpensive relative to the regional burn-probability risk noted above. Details in the home-hardening guide.
Where Cheval's figures come from
Cheval's 82nd-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 Cheval's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.