Myrtlewood, AL
How exposed is Myrtlewood to wildfire?
USFS scores Myrtlewood at the 58th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (modestly above the national average for wildfire risk), a figure built from 141 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Myrtlewood at the 60th 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
Of Myrtlewood's 141 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 Myrtlewood ranks
Inside Alabama, Myrtlewood sits at just the 21st percentile even though it scores 58th nationally — the state's overall wildfire exposure is high enough to make this a relatively quiet corner of it. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Myrtlewood ranks 13,226 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 27,232 by building count (1 is largest). Within Alabama alone, it ranks 471 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 58th national percentile, Myrtlewood rates elevated for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
Hardening a home in Myrtlewood
Because Direct exposure dominates in Myrtlewood (100%), the highest-leverage fix is defensible space, not roofing or vents alone — covered in the home-hardening guide.
Where Myrtlewood's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 141 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Myrtlewood. The exposure-zones guide covers what Myrtlewood's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.