Petersburg, KY
How exposed is Petersburg to wildfire?
Petersburg sits at the 22nd percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 467 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Petersburg's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 24th percentile nationally.
Petersburg's building exposure, zone by zone
Of Petersburg's 467 counted buildings, 73% 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.
How Petersburg compares
Petersburg's 39th-percentile standing inside Kentucky outpaces its 22nd national percentile — this is a hotter spot than most of its own state, even though the state as a whole runs cooler nationally. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Petersburg ranks 24,613 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 17,939 by building count (1 is largest). Within Kentucky alone, it ranks 338 of 552 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Kentucky on its state page.
Petersburg and the insurance market
Petersburg's moderate wildfire rating (22nd percentile) isn't the kind of score driving the carrier pullback making news in the highest-risk Western markets — but a standard homeowners quote is still worth comparing on its own terms.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
With 73% of Petersburg in Direct exposure, defensible-space clearing and ember-resistant construction (vents, Class-A roofing) address the exposure this page's own numbers describe, not a generic checklist. See the home-hardening guide.
Where Petersburg's figures come from
Petersburg's 22nd-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 Petersburg's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.