In 2025, fire departments serving Alexandria responded to 902 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $1.0M building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 60% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
4,423 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $9.8M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 882 | — | |
| 2022 | 751 | -14.9% | |
| 2023 | 937 | +24.8% | |
| 2024 | 951 | +1.5% | |
| 2025 | 902 | -5.2% |
For the 44 building fires Alexandria departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 644 building fires investigators classified across 2021–2025. The room or location where ignition occurred — kitchens, bedrooms, exterior, vehicle areas — tells you where to focus prevention.
| # | Area of origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 93 | 14.4% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 89 | 13.8% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 81 | 12.6% | |
| 4 | Other | 75 | 11.6% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 46 | 7.1% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 31 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 25 | 3.9% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 25 | 3.9% | |
| 9 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 17 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 17 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 145 | 22.5% |
NFIRS Heat Source (HEAT_SOURC) — the physical thing that started it. Spark or ember from operating equipment, an open flame, smoking materials, or hot embers from a fireplace are the leading culprits nationwide. Here's the Alexandria mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 312 | 48.4% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 92 | 14.3% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 58 | 9.0% | |
| 4 | Cigarette | 30 | 4.7% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 26 | 4.0% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 21 | 3.3% | |
| 7 | Arcing | 17 | 2.6% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 12 | 1.9% | |
| 9 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 10 | 1.6% | |
| 10 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 9 | 1.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 57 | 8.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Alexandria departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 79% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,000,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $650,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $400,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 4 | $300,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Major | Investigated |
| 5 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 6 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $95,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Alexandria sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 5,943 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 640 | 25.0 mi | |
| 2011 | Recreation and ceremony | 500 | 24.1 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 461 | 24.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 431 | 8.7 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 408 | 38.4 mi | |
| 1996 | Recreation and ceremony | 405 | 45.8 mi | |
| 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 400 | 45.8 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 350 | 46.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 344 | 27.5 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 318 | 23.4 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 24.4 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 200 | 36.2 mi |
Top 10 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Virginia cities with population within ±25% of Alexandria. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Alexandria.
A 30-minute weekend can cut your home's exposure substantially. These four checklists are a good starting point.
Numbers reflect incidents reported by participating fire departments to the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) Public Data Release for calendar year 2025. NFIRS is voluntary — about 23,000 of roughly 30,000 US fire departments report — so totals are a strong indicator, not a complete census. Per-capita comparisons use 2023 ACS population estimates. Wildland fire data complements NFIRS with NIFC and USFS perimeters. Active-fire counts come from a dated NIFC snapshot, not a live feed.