In 2025, fire departments serving Belle responded to 45 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K 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 75% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
178 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $873K cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 22 | — | |
| 2022 | 39 | +77.3% | |
| 2023 | 30 | -23.1% | |
| 2024 | 42 | +40.0% | |
| 2025 | 45 | +7.1% |
For the 20 building fires Belle departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 52 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 | 14 | 26.9% | |
| 2 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 5 | 9.6% | |
| 3 | Wall surface: exterior | 5 | 9.6% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 5 | 9.6% | |
| 5 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 4 | 7.7% | |
| 6 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 4 | 7.7% | |
| 7 | Interior stairway or ramp | 2 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 2 | 3.8% | |
| 9 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 2 | 3.8% | |
| 10 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 8 | 15.4% |
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 Belle mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 34 | 65.4% | |
| 2 | Radiated heat from another fire | 7 | 13.5% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 3 | 5.8% | |
| 4 | Cigarette lighter | 2 | 3.8% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 9 | Candle | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 10 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 1 | 1.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Belle departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 98% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $22,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $20,000 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $7,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Belle sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 61,651 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Fireworks | 4,637 | 13.5 mi | |
| 1999 | Fireworks | 3,706 | 22.5 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,484 | 27.9 mi | |
| 1999 | Fireworks | 3,358 | 21.7 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,328 | 14.8 mi | |
| 2001 | Fireworks | 3,186 | 38.0 mi | |
| 1999 | Fireworks | 3,171 | 19.8 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,082 | 21.5 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,859 | 39.3 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,533 | 44.6 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,250 | 24.4 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,233 | 40.5 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 25015 | 178 |
Six West Virginia cities with population within ±25% of Belle. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Belle.
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.