Kanawha, WV
How exposed is Kanawha to wildfire?
Kanawha's 294 buildings earn a 42nd-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.)
Separately from the risk score above, Kanawha's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 44th percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
294 buildings are counted in Kanawha, and 62.9% of them sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone — flame contact, not just ember cast, is the live possibility for most of them, against 0% rated Minimal.
Where Kanawha ranks
Kanawha's 42nd national percentile looks worse in isolation than its 21st ranking inside West Virginia does — this place is on the milder end for its own state, by 22 points. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Kanawha ranks 18,203 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 21,805 by building count (1 is largest). Within West Virginia alone, it ranks 341 of 429 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for West Virginia on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Kanawha
Kanawha's elevated rating (42nd percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
Hardening a home in Kanawha
With 62.9% of Kanawha 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
Kanawha's 42nd-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Kanawha, see the exposure-zones guide.