Ray, AL
Ray wildfire risk explained
Out of every US place USFS scores, Ray lands at the 87th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — a figure built from its 373 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Ray at the 90th national percentile — 3 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
Of Ray's 373 counted buildings, 98.7% 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 Ray compares
Ray's risk sits at a similar level relative to Alabama (92nd percentile statewide) as it does nationally (87th) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Ray ranks 4,053 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 19,797 by building count (1 is largest). Within Alabama alone, it ranks 50 of 592 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Alabama on its state page.
Ray and the insurance market
Ray's very high rating (87th 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
With 98.7% of Ray 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.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 373 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Ray. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Ray, see the exposure-zones guide.