In 2025, fire departments serving Bealeton responded to 45 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Outside rubbish fire, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 65% of all calls.
Apr peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
224 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $617K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 25 | — | |
| 2022 | 39 | — | |
| 2023 | 53 | +35.9% | |
| 2024 | 62 | +17.0% | |
| 2025 | 45 | -27.4% |
* Well below Bealeton's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.
For the 3 building fires Bealeton departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 91 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 | 20 | 22.0% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 16 | 17.6% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 15 | 16.5% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 7 | 7.7% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 5 | 5.5% | |
| 6 | Vehicle area, other | 5 | 5.5% | |
| 7 | Wildland, woods | 5 | 5.5% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 3 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 3 | 3.3% | |
| 10 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 10 | 11.0% |
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 Bealeton mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 29 | 31.9% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 11 | 12.1% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 11 | 12.1% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 10 | 11.0% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 6 | 6.6% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 5 | 5.5% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 5 | 5.5% | |
| 8 | Cigarette lighter | 3 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Explosive, fireworks, other | 2 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Match | 2 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 7 | 7.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Bealeton departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $12,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $5,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $200 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Bealeton sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 54,628 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 | 28.7 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 6,131 | 29.0 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,505 | 49.6 mi | |
| 2002 | Arson/incendiarism | 4,200 | 42.0 mi | |
| 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,717 | 47.6 mi | |
| 2012 | Natural | 2,138 | 32.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Other causes | 1,989 | 27.3 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,935 | 42.3 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,579 | 36.9 mi | |
| 2012 | Natural | 1,200 | 36.3 mi | |
| 2000 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,113 | 31.9 mi | |
| 1995 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,070 | 42.1 mi |
Top 6 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 Bealeton. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Bealeton.
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.