McIntosh, AL
How exposed is McIntosh to wildfire?
Out of every US place USFS scores, McIntosh lands at the 85th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — a figure built from its 183 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 McIntosh at the 87th percentile, close to its 85th-percentile risk score.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
86.3% of McIntosh's 183 buildings sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone, roughly 158 structures close enough to burnable vegetation for flame contact, not just embers — 13.7% fall in the Indirect, ember-only zone and 0% are Minimal.
McIntosh against the rest of the country
McIntosh's risk sits at a similar level relative to Alabama (87th percentile statewide) as it does nationally (85th) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, McIntosh ranks 4,871 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 25,489 by building count (1 is largest). Within Alabama alone, it ranks 78 of 592 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Alabama on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in McIntosh
McIntosh's very high rating (85th percentile) puts it among the places where the national carrier-pullback trend is most relevant — not a guarantee of a coverage problem, but a reason to shop rather than assume.
Hardening a home in McIntosh
With 86.3% of McIntosh 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.
Where McIntosh's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind McIntosh's 4,871-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what McIntosh's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.