West Richland, WA
West Richland, WA's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
West Richland sits at the 95th percentile nationally for wildfire risk to structures — in USFS's highest wildfire-risk band nationally — per USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities model, built from its 6,738 counted buildings, not vegetation cover alone. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks West Richland at the 95th national percentile — 1 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
West Richland's building exposure, zone by zone
Only 17.4% of West Richland's 6,738 buildings carry Direct exposure and 18% carry Indirect; the remaining 64.7% are Minimal, which shifts the risk driving this page's score toward the surrounding landscape rather than any one structure. At 6,738 buildings, this is a substantial built environment, so the shares below describe a real population of structures, not a handful of edge cases.
Where West Richland ranks
There's little gap between West Richland's 95th national percentile and its 86th percentile inside Washington, which means the state comparison mostly confirms what the national score already shows. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, West Richland ranks 1,718 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 2,569 by building count (1 is largest). Within Washington alone, it ranks 87 of 628 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Washington on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
West Richland's very high rating (95th percentile) puts it among the places where the national carrier-pullback trend is most relevant — not a guarantee of a coverage problem, but a reason to shop rather than assume.
What would actually reduce this score
Even with 64.7% of West Richland 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 West Richland's figures come from
West Richland's 95th-percentile score and its burn-probability figure both come from the same USFS workbook, documented in the methodology guide. The exposure-zones guide covers what West Richland's dominant minimal exposure actually means, with real examples from across the dataset.