River Road, NC
How exposed is River Road to wildfire?
River Road's 2,322 buildings earn a 49th-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks River Road at the 47th national percentile — 1 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Where River Road's buildings actually sit
Direct exposure dominates in River Road: 79.2% of its 2,322 buildings, versus 2.5% Indirect and 18.3% Minimal. Clearing space around a structure changes the outcome here more than any single building-material swap.
Where River Road ranks
River Road's risk sits at a similar level relative to North Carolina (34th percentile statewide) as it does nationally (49th) — this place isn't unusual for its own state either way. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, River Road ranks 16,205 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 6,659 by building count (1 is largest). Within North Carolina alone, it ranks 510 of 772 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for North Carolina on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
At the 49th national percentile, River Road rates elevated for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
River Road's 79.2% Direct-exposure share means lot clearing around the structure typically outweighs any single material upgrade here. The home-hardening guide ranks the options for a place shaped like this.
Where River Road's figures come from
River Road's 49th-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 River Road's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.