Melfa, VA
Melfa, VA's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Out of every US place USFS scores, Melfa lands at the 47th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk — a figure built from its 316 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 Melfa at the 47th percentile, close to its 47th-percentile risk score.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Indirect exposure is dominant in Melfa (57% of 316 buildings): far enough from burnable vegetation to avoid flame contact, close enough for wind-blown embers. Only 43% sit in the Direct zone.
Where Melfa ranks
Melfa's risk sits at a similar level relative to Virginia (46th percentile statewide) as it does nationally (47th) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Melfa ranks 16,814 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 21,220 by building count (1 is largest). Within Virginia alone, it ranks 365 of 681 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Virginia on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Melfa
Melfa's elevated wildfire rating (47th percentile) isn't the kind of score driving the carrier pullback making news in the highest-risk Western markets — but a standard homeowners quote is still worth comparing on its own terms.
What would actually reduce this score
Melfa's 57% 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
Every one of the two percentiles behind Melfa's 16,814-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Melfa, see the exposure-zones guide.