Mendota, VA
Mendota, VA's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
USFS scores Mendota at the 74th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (well above the national norm for wildfire risk), a figure built from 159 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Mendota at the 75th percentile, close to its 74th-percentile risk score.
Mendota's building exposure, zone by zone
USFS classifies 100% of Mendota's buildings as Direct exposure, higher than its 0% Indirect share and far above its 0% Minimal share — a profile where 159 structures sit close enough to vegetation that lot clearing matters most.
Mendota against the rest of the country
Mendota's risk sits at a similar level relative to Virginia (88th percentile statewide) as it does nationally (74th) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Mendota ranks 8,337 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 26,505 by building count (1 is largest). Within Virginia alone, it ranks 83 of 681 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Virginia on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Mendota
Mendota's high rating (74th 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.
What would actually reduce this score
With 100% of Mendota 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 Mendota's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 159 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Mendota. The exposure-zones guide covers what Mendota's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.