In 2025, fire departments serving Blue Ridge responded to 38 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $20K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 95% of all calls.
Nov peaks. Apr dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
154 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $202K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 19 | — | |
| 2022 | 40 | +110.5% | |
| 2023 | 27 | -32.5% | |
| 2024 | 30 | +11.1% | |
| 2025 | 38 | +26.7% |
For the 3 building fires Blue Ridge departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 22 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 | 8 | 36.4% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 18.2% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 4 | 18.2% | |
| 4 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 9.1% | |
| 5 | Other | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 6 | Storage area, other | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Wildland, woods | 1 | 4.5% |
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 Blue Ridge mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 13 | 59.1% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 9.1% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 9.1% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Backfire from internal combustion engine | 1 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Lightning | 1 | 4.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Blue Ridge departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Blue Ridge sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 84,928 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 15,454 | 35.6 mi | |
| 2012 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 11,381 | 33.5 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 11,229 | 42.9 mi | |
| 2012 | Fireworks | 7,351 | 21.9 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,990 | 8.6 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 3,200 | 41.7 mi | |
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,058 | 43.3 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 2,935 | 23.5 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,871 | 29.8 mi | |
| 2008 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 2,738 | 16.7 mi | |
| 1995 | Smoking | 2,151 | 19.2 mi | |
| 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 2,057 | 49.8 mi |
Top 2 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 Blue Ridge. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Blue Ridge.
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.