Pax, WV
How exposed is Pax to wildfire?
Pax's 120 buildings earn a 80th-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.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Pax at the 83rd national percentile — 3 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Where Pax's buildings actually sit
120 buildings are counted in Pax, and 88.3% of them are Indirect exposure — ember-driven risk rather than the 11.7% in Direct exposure or the 0% rated Minimal.
How Pax compares
Pax's risk sits at a similar level relative to West Virginia (71st percentile statewide) as it does nationally (80th) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Pax ranks 6,288 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 28,172 by building count (1 is largest). Within West Virginia alone, it ranks 124 of 429 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for West Virginia on its state page.
Shopping for coverage in Pax
Pax's very high rating (80th 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.
Hardening a home in Pax
Pax's 88.3% 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.
Where Pax's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 120 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Pax. The exposure-zones guide covers what Pax's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.