Pathfork, KY
Pathfork wildfire risk explained
Pathfork sits at the 92nd percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 250 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Pathfork at the 94th national percentile — 2 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Pathfork's building exposure, zone by zone
250 buildings are counted in Pathfork, and 70.8% of them sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone — flame contact, not just ember cast, is the live possibility for most of them, against 0% rated Minimal.
Where Pathfork ranks
Pathfork's risk sits at a similar level relative to Kentucky (95th percentile statewide) as it does nationally (92nd) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Pathfork ranks 2,549 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 23,142 by building count (1 is largest). Within Kentucky alone, it ranks 30 of 552 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Kentucky on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Pathfork's 92nd-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.
What would actually reduce this score
Pathfork's 70.8% 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 Pathfork's figures come from
Pathfork's 92nd-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 Pathfork's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.