Earling, WV
Earling, WV's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Earling sits at the 96th percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 47 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Earling at the 97th national percentile — 1 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Where Earling's buildings actually sit
53.2% of Earling's 47 buildings fall in USFS's Indirect exposure zone — ember cast rather than direct flame — against 46.8% Direct and 0% Minimal. Vent screens and roofing material matter more here than lot clearing alone.
Where Earling ranks
Earling's risk sits at a similar level relative to West Virginia (99th percentile statewide) as it does nationally (96th) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Earling ranks 1,183 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 31,013 by building count (1 is largest). Within West Virginia alone, it ranks 6 of 429 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for West Virginia on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Earling's 96th-percentile, very high rating is the kind of score behind a broader national pattern: insurers pulling back from the highest wildfire-risk markets, non-renewing or declining new policies outright, most visibly in California. Shopping around, not assuming automatic renewal, tends to matter here.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Earling's 53.2% 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.
More on how this number was built
Earling's 96th-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 Earling, see the exposure-zones guide.