Helena, MS
Helena wildfire risk explained
Out of every US place USFS scores, Helena lands at the 96th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — a figure built from its 860 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 Helena at the 96th percentile, close to its 96th-percentile risk score.
Helena's building exposure, zone by zone
Direct exposure dominates in Helena: 96.9% of its 860 buildings, versus 3.1% Indirect and 0% Minimal. Clearing space around a structure changes the outcome here more than any single building-material swap.
Helena against the rest of the country
Helena scores 96th nationally and 99th within Mississippi — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Helena ranks 1,415 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 13,085 by building count (1 is largest). Within Mississippi alone, it ranks 6 of 420 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Mississippi on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Helena
Helena's very high rating (96th 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.
What would actually reduce this score
Helena's 96.9% 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.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 860 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Helena. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Helena, see the exposure-zones guide.