Elizabeth, WV
Elizabeth, WV's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Elizabeth's 550 buildings earn a 39th-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.)
Separately from the risk score above, Elizabeth's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 41st percentile nationally.
Elizabeth's building exposure, zone by zone
Most of Elizabeth's buildings (82%) sit in the Indirect zone, where wind-blown embers rather than flame front are the mechanism USFS is scoring — ember-resistant vents and non-combustible roofing are the interventions this pattern favors, more than defensible space alone.
Elizabeth against the rest of the country
Elizabeth's 39th national percentile looks worse in isolation than its 13th ranking inside West Virginia does — this place is on the milder end for its own state, by 27 points. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Elizabeth ranks 19,115 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 16,575 by building count (1 is largest). Within West Virginia alone, it ranks 376 of 429 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for West Virginia on its state page.
Elizabeth and the insurance market
At the 39th national percentile, Elizabeth rates moderate for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in Elizabeth (82% 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
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 550 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Elizabeth. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Elizabeth, see the exposure-zones guide.