In 2025, fire departments serving Barboursville responded to 25 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $2K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 64% of all calls.
Mar peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
107 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $569K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 14 | — | |
| 2022 | 16 | +14.3% | |
| 2023 | 23 | +43.8% | |
| 2024 | 29 | +26.1% | |
| 2025 | 25 | -13.8% |
For the 2 building fires Barboursville departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 18 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 | Outside area, other | 3 | 16.7% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 3 | 16.7% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 3 | 16.7% | |
| 4 | Egress/exit, other | 2 | 11.1% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 11.1% | |
| 6 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 5.6% | |
| 7 | Storage area, other | 1 | 5.6% | |
| 8 | Storage: supplies or tools; dead storage | 1 | 5.6% | |
| 9 | Wall assembly | 1 | 5.6% | |
| 10 | Wildland, woods | 1 | 5.6% |
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 Barboursville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 4 | 22.2% | |
| 2 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 16.7% | |
| 3 | Cigarette lighter | 3 | 16.7% | |
| 4 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 2 | 11.1% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 5.6% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 1 | 5.6% | |
| 7 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 5.6% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 5.6% | |
| 9 | Chemical, natural heat source, other | 1 | 5.6% | |
| 10 | Lightning | 1 | 5.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Barboursville departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,500 | Building or structure weakened or collapsed | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $700 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $3 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Barboursville sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 71,560 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Recreation and ceremony | 16,021 | 30.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 10,326 | 22.1 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 6,131 | 25.7 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,505 | 17.6 mi | |
| 2002 | Arson/incendiarism | 4,200 | 27.6 mi | |
| 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,717 | 30.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 2,564 | 46.8 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 2,206 | 25.5 mi | |
| 2012 | Natural | 2,138 | 36.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Other causes | 1,989 | 44.3 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,935 | 37.9 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,614 | 41.4 mi |
Top 3 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 Barboursville. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
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.