Kimball, WV
Kimball, WV's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Out of every US place USFS scores, Kimball lands at the 87th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — a figure built from its 277 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 Kimball at the 89th percentile, close to its 87th-percentile risk score.
Where Kimball's buildings actually sit
USFS puts 62.8% of Kimball's 277 buildings in the Indirect exposure zone, versus 37.2% Direct and 0% Minimal — a place where the fire doesn't need to reach the structure directly for embers to.
How Kimball compares
Kimball's risk sits at a similar level relative to West Virginia (76th percentile statewide) as it does nationally (87th) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Kimball ranks 4,239 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 22,310 by building count (1 is largest). Within West Virginia alone, it ranks 105 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 87th percentile nationally, Kimball carries the very 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 Kimball
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in Kimball (62.8% Indirect), vent screens and roofing material tend to matter more than lot clearing alone. The home-hardening guide covers both.
Where Kimball's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Kimball's 4,239-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Kimball's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.