Difficult Run, VA
How exposed is Difficult Run to wildfire?
Difficult Run's 3,893 buildings earn a 21st-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Difficult Run at the 21st percentile, close to its 21st-percentile risk score.
Difficult Run's building exposure, zone by zone
Of Difficult Run's 3,893 counted buildings, 97.4% carry Direct exposure and only 1.3% carry Minimal — a lopsided split that puts defensible-space clearing ahead of vents or roofing as the intervention worth doing first.
Difficult Run against the rest of the country
Difficult Run scores 21st nationally and 11th 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, Difficult Run ranks 25,074 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 4,343 by building count (1 is largest). Within Virginia alone, it ranks 605 of 681 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Virginia on its state page.
Difficult Run and the insurance market
Difficult Run's moderate wildfire rating (21st percentile) isn't the kind of score driving the carrier pullback making news in the highest-risk Western markets — but a standard homeowners quote is still worth comparing on its own terms.
What would actually reduce this score
With 97.4% of Difficult Run in Direct exposure, defensible-space clearing and ember-resistant construction (vents, Class-A roofing) address the exposure this page's own numbers describe, not a generic checklist. See the home-hardening guide.
Where Difficult Run's figures come from
Difficult Run's 21st-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 Difficult Run's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.