Oceana, WV
Oceana, WV's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Out of every US place USFS scores, Oceana lands at the 93rd percentile for wildfire risk to structures — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — a figure built from its 832 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Oceana at the 95th 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
832 buildings are counted in Oceana, and 66.5% of them are Indirect exposure — ember-driven risk rather than the 33.5% in Direct exposure or the 0% rated Minimal.
Where Oceana ranks
There's little gap between Oceana's 93rd national percentile and its 89th percentile inside West Virginia, which means the state comparison mostly confirms what the national score already shows. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Oceana ranks 2,349 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 13,329 by building count (1 is largest). Within West Virginia alone, it ranks 47 of 429 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for West Virginia on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Oceana's 93rd-percentile, very high rating is the kind of score behind a broader national pattern: insurers pulling back from the highest wildfire-risk markets, non-renewing or declining new policies outright, most visibly in California. Shopping around, not assuming automatic renewal, tends to matter here.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Oceana's 66.5% 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
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 832 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Oceana. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Oceana, see the exposure-zones guide.