McConnell, WV
McConnell wildfire risk explained
USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model puts McConnell at the 94th national percentile for risk to structures, in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — a score built from 229 actual buildings. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks McConnell at the 96th national percentile — 2 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
229 buildings are counted in McConnell, and 79% of them are Indirect exposure — ember-driven risk rather than the 21% in Direct exposure or the 0% rated Minimal.
Where McConnell ranks
There's little gap between McConnell's 94th national percentile and its 95th percentile inside West Virginia, which means the state comparison mostly confirms what the national score already shows. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, McConnell ranks 1,812 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 23,842 by building count (1 is largest). Within West Virginia alone, it ranks 22 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
McConnell's 94th-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.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
McConnell's 79% 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.
More on how this number was built
McConnell's 94th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond McConnell, see the exposure-zones guide.