Fincastle, VA
How exposed is Fincastle to wildfire?
USFS scores Fincastle at the 69th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (well above the national norm for wildfire risk), a figure built from 469 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Fincastle's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 71st percentile nationally.
Where Fincastle's buildings actually sit
Direct exposure dominates in Fincastle: 54.2% of its 469 buildings, versus 45.8% Indirect and 0% Minimal. Clearing space around a structure changes the outcome here more than any single building-material swap.
Where Fincastle ranks
There's little gap between Fincastle's 69th national percentile and its 82nd percentile inside Virginia, which means the state comparison mostly confirms what the national score already shows. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Fincastle ranks 9,723 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 17,909 by building count (1 is largest). Within Virginia alone, it ranks 126 of 681 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Virginia on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
At the 69th percentile nationally, Fincastle carries the high rating that has pushed some carriers to limit new business in similarly-scored places elsewhere in the country. Worth comparing quotes rather than assuming last year's renewal terms still apply.
Hardening a home in Fincastle
Fincastle's 54.2% Direct-exposure share means lot clearing around the structure typically outweighs any single material upgrade here. The home-hardening guide ranks the options for a place shaped like this.
Where Fincastle's figures come from
Fincastle's 69th-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 Fincastle's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.