Watson, AR
How exposed is Watson to wildfire?
Out of every US place USFS scores, Watson lands at the 12th percentile for wildfire risk to structures — among the lower wildfire-risk places nationally — a figure built from its 146 buildings, not the land around them. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Watson at the 11th national percentile — 1 points below its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
Where Watson's buildings actually sit
USFS classifies 75.3% of Watson's buildings as Minimal exposure, the largest of the three zones here by a wide margin over 24.7% Direct and 0% Indirect — a landscape-level risk rather than a building-by-building one.
Watson against the rest of the country
Watson scores 12th nationally and 6th within Arkansas — close enough that its state context doesn't change the picture the national number already gives. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Watson ranks 27,787 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 27,010 by building count (1 is largest). Within Arkansas alone, it ranks 580 of 614 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Arkansas on its state page.
Watson and the insurance market
Watson's low rating (12th percentile nationally) sits outside the range where wildfire risk alone reshapes an insurance market — still, a homeowner here loses nothing by comparing rates.
What would actually reduce this score
Even with 75.3% of Watson outside USFS's Direct and Indirect zones, basic hardening — gutter maintenance, ember-resistant vents — is inexpensive relative to the regional burn-probability risk noted above. Details in the home-hardening guide.
Where Watson's figures come from
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 146 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Watson. The exposure-zones guide covers what Watson's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.