Malden, WV
How exposed is Malden to wildfire?
Out of every US place USFS scores, Malden lands at the 89th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — a figure built from its 250 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Malden at the 90th national percentile — 1 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
250 buildings are counted in Malden, and 97.6% of them are Indirect exposure — ember-driven risk rather than the 2.4% in Direct exposure or the 0% rated Minimal.
Malden against the rest of the country
Malden scores 89th nationally and 79th 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, Malden ranks 3,452 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 23,157 by building count (1 is largest). Within West Virginia alone, it ranks 90 of 429 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for West Virginia on its state page.
Malden and the insurance market
Malden's 89th-percentile, very high rating is the kind of score behind a broader national pattern: insurers pulling back from the highest wildfire-risk markets, non-renewing or declining new policies outright, most visibly in California. Shopping around, not assuming automatic renewal, tends to matter here.
What would actually reduce this score
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in Malden (97.6% Indirect), vent screens and roofing material tend to matter more than lot clearing alone. The home-hardening guide covers both.
Where Malden's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 250 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Malden. The exposure-zones guide covers what Malden's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.