In 2025, fire departments serving Beverly responded to 17 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $15K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Aircraft standby lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 71% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Apr dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
137 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $865K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 29 | — | |
| 2022 | 39 | +34.5% | |
| 2023* | 16 | — | |
| 2024 | 36 | — | |
| 2025 | 17 | -52.8% |
* Well below Beverly'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 2 building fires Beverly departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 29 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 | 10 | 34.5% | |
| 2 | Wildland, woods | 4 | 13.8% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 6.9% | |
| 4 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 2 | 6.9% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 6.9% | |
| 6 | Other | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 7 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Function area, other | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 10 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 4 | 13.8% |
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 Beverly mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 11 | 37.9% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 10 | 34.5% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 2 | 6.9% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 6.9% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 2 | 6.9% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 7 | Candle | 1 | 3.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Beverly departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $15,000 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Beverly sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 14,143 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Natural | 2,743 | 45.7 mi | |
| 2001 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,800 | 35.2 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,611 | 30.9 mi | |
| 2019 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1,289 | 31.1 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,000 | 48.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 914 | 47.1 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 644 | 47.7 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 546 | 44.7 mi | |
| 2018 | Arson/incendiarism | 428 | 34.9 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 395 | 49.9 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 390 | 48.1 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 330 | 44.5 mi |
Top 4 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 Beverly. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Beverly.
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.