Welch, WV
Welch, WV's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
USFS scores Welch at the 89th national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally), a figure built from 1,242 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Welch's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 91st percentile nationally.
Where Welch's buildings actually sit
USFS classifies 56.1% of Welch's buildings as Direct exposure, higher than its 43.9% Indirect share and far above its 0% Minimal share — a profile where 697 structures sit close enough to vegetation that lot clearing matters most.
Welch against the rest of the country
There's little gap between Welch's 89th national percentile and its 79th percentile inside West Virginia, which means the state comparison mostly confirms what the national score already shows. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Welch ranks 3,545 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 10,394 by building count (1 is largest). Within West Virginia alone, it ranks 93 of 429 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for West Virginia on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Welch's 89th-percentile, very high rating is the kind of score behind a broader national pattern: insurers pulling back from the highest wildfire-risk markets, non-renewing or declining new policies outright, most visibly in California. Shopping around, not assuming automatic renewal, tends to matter here.
Hardening a home in Welch
With 56.1% of Welch 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.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 1,242 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Welch. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Welch, see the exposure-zones guide.