Tornillo, TX
Tornillo wildfire risk explained
Out of every US place USFS scores, Tornillo lands at the 21st percentile for wildfire risk to structures — close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range — a figure built from its 646 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Tornillo at the 20th national percentile — 1 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Tornillo's building exposure, zone by zone
63.9% of Tornillo's 646 buildings fall in USFS's Indirect exposure zone — ember cast rather than direct flame — against 36.1% Direct and 0% Minimal. Vent screens and roofing material matter more here than lot clearing alone.
Where Tornillo ranks
Tornillo's 21st national percentile looks worse in isolation than its 1st ranking inside Texas does — this place is on the milder end for its own state, by 20 points. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Tornillo ranks 24,783 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 15,253 by building count (1 is largest). Within Texas alone, it ranks 1,772 of 1,795 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Texas on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
At the 21st national percentile, Tornillo rates moderate for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
What would actually reduce this score
With ember exposure the dominant pattern in Tornillo (63.9% Indirect), vent screens and roofing material tend to matter more than lot clearing alone. The home-hardening guide covers both.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 646 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Tornillo. For more on what indirect exposure implies beyond Tornillo, see the exposure-zones guide.