Gatewood, WV
How exposed is Gatewood to wildfire?
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts Gatewood at the 70th national percentile for risk to structures, well above the national norm for wildfire risk — a score built from 303 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Gatewood's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 72nd percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Direct exposure dominates in Gatewood: 100% of its 303 buildings, versus 0% Indirect and 0% Minimal. Clearing space around a structure changes the outcome here more than any single building-material swap.
Where Gatewood ranks
Gatewood scores 70th nationally and 63rd within West Virginia — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Gatewood ranks 9,597 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 21,559 by building count (1 is largest). Within West Virginia alone, it ranks 158 of 429 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for West Virginia on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
At the 70th percentile nationally, Gatewood 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 Gatewood
With 100% of Gatewood in Direct exposure, defensible-space clearing and ember-resistant construction (vents, Class-A roofing) address the exposure this page's own numbers describe, not a generic checklist. See the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
Every one of the two percentiles behind Gatewood's 9,597-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Gatewood, see the exposure-zones guide.