Clintwood, VA
How exposed is Clintwood to wildfire?
USFS scores Clintwood at the 90th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally), a figure built from 991 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Clintwood at the 93rd national percentile — 3 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Indirect exposure is dominant in Clintwood (53.1% of 991 buildings): far enough from burnable vegetation to avoid flame contact, close enough for wind-blown embers. Only 46.9% sit in the Direct zone.
Where Clintwood ranks
Clintwood's risk sits at a similar level relative to Virginia (98th percentile statewide) as it does nationally (90th) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Clintwood ranks 3,228 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 11,998 by building count (1 is largest). Within Virginia alone, it ranks 16 of 681 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Virginia on its state page.
Clintwood and the insurance market
At the 90th percentile nationally, Clintwood 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.
Hardening a home in Clintwood
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in Clintwood (53.1% Indirect), vent screens and roofing material tend to matter more than lot clearing alone. The home-hardening guide covers both.
More on how this number was built
Clintwood's 90th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Clintwood, see the exposure-zones guide.