Dothan, AL
Dothan wildfire risk explained
Dothan sits at the 54th percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 33,118 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Dothan at the 55th national percentile — 1 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Dothan's building exposure, zone by zone
39.7% of Dothan's 33,118 buildings fall in USFS's Indirect exposure zone — ember cast rather than direct flame — against 37.6% Direct and 22.7% Minimal. Vent screens and roofing material matter more here than lot clearing alone. At 33,118 buildings, this is a substantial built environment, so the shares below describe a real population of structures, not a handful of edge cases.
Dothan against the rest of the country
Dothan's 54th national percentile looks worse in isolation than its 11th ranking inside Alabama does — this place is on the milder end for its own state, by 43 points. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Dothan ranks 14,361 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 330 by building count (1 is largest). Within Alabama alone, it ranks 527 of 592 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Alabama on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Dothan's elevated wildfire rating (54th 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
Dothan's 39.7% Indirect-exposure share points at embers, not flame contact, as the main pathway — ember-resistant vents and non-combustible roofing rank ahead of defensible space here. Detail in the home-hardening guide.
Where Dothan's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 33,118 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Dothan. The exposure-zones guide covers what Dothan's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.