Whelen Springs, AR
Whelen Springs, AR's wildfire risk, in USFS's own numbers
Whelen Springs's 46 buildings earn a 56th-percentile wildfire-risk score nationally under USFS's model — modestly above the national average for wildfire risk. (Source: USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities methodology.)
Fire likelihood alone (USFS's burn-probability figure) ranks Whelen Springs at the 57th national percentile — 2 points above its risk-to-structures score, a gap driven by how much is actually built there.
What "at risk" means for the buildings here
Direct exposure dominates in Whelen Springs: 71.7% of its 46 buildings, versus 28.3% Indirect and 0% Minimal. Clearing space around a structure changes the outcome here more than any single building-material swap.
Whelen Springs against the rest of the country
Whelen Springs ranks lower within Arkansas (34th percentile statewide) than its 56th national percentile suggests alone — a calmer spot in a state where wildfire risk generally runs high. Among the 31,521 US communities USFS scores, Whelen Springs ranks 13,984 for wildfire risk (1 is highest) and 31,017 by building count (1 is largest). Within Arkansas alone, it ranks 406 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
Whelen Springs's elevated wildfire rating (56th 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.
What would actually reduce this score
With 71.7% of Whelen Springs 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
Every one of the two percentiles behind Whelen Springs's 13,984-place national rank traces to USFS's Wildfire Risk to Communities dataset — see the methodology guide. For more on what direct exposure implies beyond Whelen Springs, see the exposure-zones guide.