Prestonsburg, KY
Prestonsburg, KY's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Prestonsburg 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 2,038 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Prestonsburg's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 94th percentile nationally.
Where Prestonsburg's buildings actually sit
USFS puts 69.1% of Prestonsburg's 2,038 buildings in the Indirect exposure zone, versus 30.8% Direct and 0.1% Minimal — a place where the fire doesn't need to reach the structure directly for embers to.
Prestonsburg against the rest of the country
Prestonsburg scores 92nd nationally and 94th within Kentucky — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Prestonsburg ranks 2,649 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 7,362 by building count (1 is largest). Within Kentucky alone, it ranks 35 of 552 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Kentucky on its state page.
Prestonsburg and the insurance market
Prestonsburg's very high rating (92nd 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.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Because 69.1% of Prestonsburg's buildings sit in the Indirect zone, sealing the ember pathway (vents, roofing, gutters) is the intervention this page's data actually supports — see the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 2,038 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Prestonsburg. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Prestonsburg, see the exposure-zones guide.