Dodson Branch, TN
How exposed is Dodson Branch to wildfire?
USFS scores Dodson Branch at the 45th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (modestly above the national average for wildfire risk), a figure built from 810 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Dodson Branch at the 47th national percentile — 3 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Dodson Branch's building exposure, zone by zone
Direct exposure dominates in Dodson Branch: 99.6% of its 810 buildings, versus 0.4% Indirect and 0% Minimal. Clearing space around a structure changes the outcome here more than any single building-material swap.
How Dodson Branch compares
Dodson Branch scores 45th nationally and 34th within Tennessee — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Dodson Branch ranks 17,470 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 13,553 by building count (1 is largest). Within Tennessee alone, it ranks 330 of 502 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Tennessee on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Dodson Branch
Dodson Branch's elevated wildfire rating (45th 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.
Hardening a home in Dodson Branch
Because Direct exposure dominates in Dodson Branch (99.6%), the highest-leverage fix is defensible space, not roofing or vents alone — covered in the home-hardening guide.
Where Dodson Branch's figures come from
Dodson Branch's 45th-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 Dodson Branch's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.