Helena-West Helena, AR
Helena-West Helena wildfire risk explained
Helena-West Helena's 5,940 buildings earn a 47th-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk. (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-West Helena at the 49th percentile, close to its 47th-percentile risk score.
Where Helena-West Helena's buildings actually sit
Indirect exposure is dominant in Helena-West Helena (52.6% of 5,940 buildings): far enough from burnable vegetation to avoid flame contact, close enough for wind-blown embers. Only 35.2% sit in the Direct zone. At 5,940 buildings, this is a substantial built environment, so the shares below describe a real population of structures, not a handful of edge cases.
How Helena-West Helena compares
Helena-West Helena's 47th national percentile looks worse in isolation than its 23rd ranking inside Arkansas does — this place is on the milder end for its own state, by 24 points. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Helena-West Helena ranks 16,598 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 2,899 by building count (1 is largest). Within Arkansas alone, it ranks 472 of 614 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Arkansas on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Helena-West Helena
At the 47th national percentile, Helena-West Helena rates elevated for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
Hardening a home in Helena-West Helena
Helena-West Helena's 52.6% 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.
Where Helena-West Helena's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Helena-West Helena's 16,598-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Helena-West Helena's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.