In 2025, fire departments serving Blacksburg responded to 194 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $300K 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 64% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,264 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $1.7M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 261 | — | |
| 2022 | 229 | -12.3% | |
| 2023 | 369 | +61.1% | |
| 2024 | 211 | -42.8% | |
| 2025 | 194 | -8.1% |
For the 48 building fires Blacksburg departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 237 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 | 44 | 18.6% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 36 | 15.2% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 23 | 9.7% | |
| 4 | Vehicle area, other | 15 | 6.3% | |
| 5 | Wildland, woods | 15 | 6.3% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 12 | 5.1% | |
| 7 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 11 | 4.6% | |
| 8 | Other | 10 | 4.2% | |
| 9 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 8 | 3.4% | |
| 10 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 8 | 3.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 55 | 23.2% |
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 Blacksburg mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 99 | 41.8% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 20 | 8.4% | |
| 3 | Cigarette lighter | 15 | 6.3% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 13 | 5.5% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 12 | 5.1% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 12 | 5.1% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 12 | 5.1% | |
| 8 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 9 | 3.8% | |
| 9 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 8 | 3.4% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 5 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 32 | 13.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Blacksburg departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 96% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $300,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $160,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $150,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $52,700 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $30,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $20,000 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $14,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Blacksburg sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 23,281 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 7,913 | 45.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,431 | 34.4 mi | |
| 2001 | Debris and open burning | 2,235 | 42.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,477 | 45.8 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 562 | 32.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 535 | 31.7 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 524 | 46.0 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 493 | 29.6 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 330 | 45.4 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 36.9 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 278 | 47.6 mi | |
| 2006 | Equipment and vehicle use | 275 | 45.0 mi |
Top 5 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six South Carolina cities with population within ±25% of Blacksburg. 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.