Fairlea, WV
How exposed is Fairlea to wildfire?
Out of every US place USFS scores, Fairlea lands at the 56th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — a figure built from its 1,219 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Fairlea at the 59th percentile, close to its 56th-percentile risk score.
Fairlea's building exposure, zone by zone
Most of Fairlea's buildings (79.3%) 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.
Fairlea against the rest of the country
Fairlea's risk sits at a similar level relative to West Virginia (44th percentile statewide) as it does nationally (56th) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Fairlea ranks 13,916 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 10,541 by building count (1 is largest). Within West Virginia alone, it ranks 239 of 429 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for West Virginia on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Fairlea
Fairlea's elevated rating (56th percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in Fairlea (79.3% Indirect), vent screens and roofing material tend to matter more than lot clearing alone. The home-hardening guide covers both.
Where Fairlea's figures come from
Fairlea's 56th-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 Fairlea's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.