Vinegar Bend, AL
Vinegar Bend, AL's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Vinegar Bend's 160 buildings earn a 87th-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Vinegar Bend's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 89th percentile nationally.
Where Vinegar Bend's buildings actually sit
USFS classifies 100% of Vinegar Bend's buildings as Direct exposure, higher than its 0% Indirect share and far above its 0% Minimal share — a profile where 160 structures sit close enough to vegetation that lot clearing matters most.
Vinegar Bend against the rest of the country
Vinegar Bend scores 87th nationally and 92nd within Alabama — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Vinegar Bend ranks 4,020 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 26,416 by building count (1 is largest). Within Alabama alone, it ranks 48 of 592 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Alabama on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
At the 87th percentile nationally, Vinegar Bend 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 Vinegar Bend
Because Direct exposure dominates in Vinegar Bend (100%), the highest-leverage fix is defensible space, not roofing or vents alone — covered in the home-hardening guide.
More on how this number was built
Vinegar Bend's 87th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Vinegar Bend, see the exposure-zones guide.