Richlands, VA
Richlands, VA's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
USFS scores Richlands at the 85th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally), a figure built from 3,013 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Richlands at the 87th national percentile — 2 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Richlands's building exposure, zone by zone
Most of Richlands's buildings (77.9%) sit in the Indirect zone, where wind-blown embers rather than flame front are the mechanism USFS is scoring — ember-resistant vents and non-combustible roofing are the interventions this pattern favors, more than defensible space alone.
Richlands against the rest of the country
There's little gap between Richlands's 85th national percentile and its 95th percentile inside Virginia, which means the state comparison mostly confirms what the national score already shows. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Richlands ranks 4,774 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 5,418 by building count (1 is largest). Within Virginia alone, it ranks 36 of 681 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Virginia on its state page.
Richlands and the insurance market
At the 85th percentile nationally, Richlands carries the very high rating that has pushed some carriers to limit new business in similarly-scored places elsewhere in the country. Worth comparing quotes rather than assuming last year's renewal terms still apply.
Hardening a home in Richlands
Richlands's 77.9% 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 Richlands's figures come from
Richlands's 85th-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 Richlands's dominant indirect exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.