Sardis, KY
Sardis wildfire risk explained
Sardis sits at the 28th 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 134 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Sardis at the 30th national percentile — 2 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
Direct exposure dominates in Sardis: 100% of its 134 buildings, versus 0% Indirect and 0% Minimal. Clearing space around a structure changes the outcome here more than any single building-material swap.
Where Sardis ranks
Compare Sardis's two percentiles: 54th within Kentucky, only 28th nationally — a gap of 26 points that marks it as unusually exposed for its own state. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Sardis ranks 22,654 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 27,542 by building count (1 is largest). Within Kentucky alone, it ranks 256 of 552 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Kentucky on its state page.
Sardis and the insurance market
Sardis's moderate wildfire rating (28th 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.
Hardening a home in Sardis
With 100% of Sardis 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 Sardis's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 134 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Sardis. The exposure-zones guide covers what Sardis's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.