Wells, VT
How exposed is Wells to wildfire?
Wells's 354 buildings earn a 25th-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — close to the middle of USFS's national wildfire-risk range. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
USFS's separate burn-probability score — fire likelihood alone, before counting what's built there — puts Wells at the 24th percentile, close to its 25th-percentile risk score.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
354 buildings are counted in Wells, and 82.8% of them sit in USFS's Direct exposure zone — flame contact, not just ember cast, is the live possibility for most of them, against 3.7% rated Minimal.
How Wells compares
Within Vermont, Wells ranks higher (99th percentile) than it does nationally (25th) — one of the more fire-exposed places in a state that, overall, scores lower than that. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Wells ranks 23,775 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 20,227 by building count (1 is largest). Within Vermont alone, it ranks 3 of 179 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Vermont on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
At the 25th national percentile, Wells rates moderate for wildfire risk — well short of the threshold where insurers have been withdrawing coverage, though comparing a quote costs nothing either way.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
With 82.8% of Wells 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 Wells's figures come from
Every one of the two percentiles behind Wells's 23,775-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what Wells's dominant direct exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.