Mentone, AL
Mentone wildfire risk explained
Mentone's 467 buildings earn a 82nd-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Mentone's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 85th percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Of Mentone's 467 counted buildings, 100% carry Direct exposure and only 0% carry Minimal — a lopsided split that puts defensible-space clearing ahead of vents or roofing as the intervention worth doing first.
Where Mentone ranks
Mentone's risk sits at a similar level relative to Alabama (80th percentile statewide) as it does nationally (82nd) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Mentone ranks 5,785 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 17,933 by building count (1 is largest). Within Alabama alone, it ranks 117 of 592 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Alabama on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
At the 82nd percentile nationally, Mentone carries the very high rating that has pushed some carriers to limit new business in similarly-scored places elsewhere in the country. Worth comparing quotes rather than assuming last year's renewal terms still apply.
What would actually reduce this score
Mentone's 100% Direct-exposure share means lot clearing around the structure typically outweighs any single material upgrade here. The home-hardening guide ranks the options for a place shaped like this.
Where Mentone's figures come from
Mentone's 82nd-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Mentone's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.