Etowah, TN
Etowah wildfire risk explained
Out of every US place USFS scores, Etowah lands at the 75th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — well above the national norm for wildfire risk — a figure built from its 1,935 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Etowah's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 79th percentile nationally.
Etowah's building exposure, zone by zone
67.4% of Etowah's 1,935 buildings fall in USFS's Indirect exposure zone — ember cast rather than direct flame — against 32.6% Direct and 0% Minimal. Vent screens and roofing material matter more here than lot clearing alone.
Where Etowah ranks
There's little gap between Etowah's 75th national percentile and its 77th percentile inside Tennessee, which means the state comparison mostly confirms what the national score already shows. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Etowah ranks 7,825 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 7,665 by building count (1 is largest). Within Tennessee alone, it ranks 114 of 502 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Tennessee on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Etowah
Etowah's high rating (75th percentile) puts it among the places where the national carrier-pullback trend is most relevant — not a guarantee of a coverage problem, but a reason to shop rather than assume.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Because 67.4% of Etowah's buildings sit in the Indirect zone, sealing the ember pathway (vents, roofing, gutters) is the intervention this page's data actually supports — see the home-hardening guide.
Where Etowah's figures come from
Etowah's 75th-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 Etowah's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.