Wheatley, AR
Wheatley wildfire risk explained
USFS scores Wheatley at the 42nd national percentile for wildfire risk to structures (modestly above the national average for wildfire risk), a figure built from 284 real buildings rather than raw vegetation cover. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Separately from the risk score above, Wheatley's burn probability — fire likelihood with no building count factored in — sits at the 42nd percentile nationally.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Wheatley rates 60.6% Minimal exposure against just 27.1% Direct and 12.3% Indirect — of 284 buildings counted, few sit close enough to burnable vegetation for USFS to flag them individually.
Wheatley against the rest of the country
Wheatley's 42nd national percentile looks worse in isolation than its 19th ranking inside Arkansas does — this place is on the milder end for its own state, by 22 points. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Wheatley ranks 18,393 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 22,049 by building count (1 is largest). Within Arkansas alone, it ranks 495 of 614 places by risk. See the full county-by-county picture for Arkansas on its state page.
What this risk score means for insurance
Wheatley's elevated wildfire rating (42nd percentile) isn't the kind of score driving the carrier pullback making news in the highest-risk Western markets — but a standard homeowners quote is still worth comparing on its own terms.
Lowering exposure, not just insuring around it
Even with 60.6% of Wheatley 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.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly how USFS turned 284 counted buildings into the percentiles shown above for Wheatley. For more on what minimal exposure implies beyond Wheatley, see the exposure-zones guide.