Gassaway, WV
Gassaway wildfire risk explained
Gassaway sits at the 53rd percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 496 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Gassaway at the 53rd percentile, close to its 53rd-percentile risk score.
Where Gassaway's buildings actually sit
496 buildings are counted in Gassaway, and 71.8% of them are Indirect exposure — ember-driven risk rather than the 28.2% in Direct exposure or the 0% rated Minimal.
Gassaway against the rest of the country
Gassaway's risk sits at a similar level relative to West Virginia (40th percentile statewide) as it does nationally (53rd) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Gassaway ranks 14,861 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 17,433 by building count (1 is largest). Within West Virginia alone, it ranks 256 of 429 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for West Virginia on its state page.
Gassaway and the insurance market
Gassaway's elevated wildfire rating (53rd percentile) isn't the kind of score driving the carrier pullback making news in the highest-risk Western markets — but a standard homeowners quote is still worth comparing on its own terms.
What would actually reduce this score
Gassaway's 71.8% 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
Gassaway's 53rd-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 Gassaway, see the exposure-zones guide.