In 2025, fire departments serving Barboursville responded to 86 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $75K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 62% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
619 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $377K cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 155 | — | |
| 2022 | 132 | -14.8% | |
| 2023 | 107 | -18.9% | |
| 2024 | 139 | +29.9% | |
| 2025 | 86 | -38.1% |
For the 28 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 139 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 25 | 18.0% | |
| 2 | Wildland, woods | 16 | 11.5% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 14 | 10.1% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 12 | 8.6% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 10 | 7.2% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 5 | 3.6% | |
| 7 | Wall surface: exterior | 5 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 4 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 4 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Fuel tank, fuel line | 4 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 40 | 28.8% |
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 | 64 | 46.0% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 13 | 9.4% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 9 | 6.5% | |
| 4 | Cigarette | 8 | 5.8% | |
| 5 | Cigarette lighter | 8 | 5.8% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 7 | 5.0% | |
| 7 | Heat, spark from friction | 6 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 4 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 13 | 9.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Barboursville departments in 2025. These 6 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $2,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $100 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $1 | 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.
8 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 2 | |
| 30-39 | 2 | |
| 40-49 | 0 | |
| 50-59 | 2 | |
| 60-69 | 1 | |
| 70-79 | 1 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 47,146 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,328 | 33.8 mi | |
| 1999 | Fireworks | 3,171 | 47.7 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,082 | 37.8 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,250 | 33.5 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,200 | 41.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,090 | 29.8 mi | |
| 2001 | Fireworks | 2,063 | 48.1 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,000 | 35.0 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,934 | 33.2 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,769 | 38.5 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,739 | 34.0 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,678 | 32.5 mi |
Top 8 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six West Virginia cities with population within ±25% of Barboursville. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Barboursville.
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.