In 2025, fire departments serving Boykins responded to 14 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $50K 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 36% of all calls.
Dec peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
84 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $451K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 16 | — | |
| 2022 | 20 | +25.0% | |
| 2023 | 22 | +10.0% | |
| 2024 | 12 | -45.5% | |
| 2025 | 14 | +16.7% |
For the 1 building fires Boykins departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 16 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 | 50.0% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 3 | 18.8% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 4 | Switchgear area, transformer vault | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 5 | Vehicle area, other | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 7 | Wildland, woods | 1 | 6.2% |
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 Boykins mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 11 | 68.8% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 4 | 25.0% | |
| 3 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 1 | 6.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Boykins departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $50,000 | Fire in mobile prop. used as a fixed struc., other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Boykins sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 26,127 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Natural | 6,574 | 38.7 mi | |
| 2008 | Equipment and vehicle use | 4,884 | 39.6 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,850 | 34.6 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,100 | 48.1 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,012 | 47.5 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,521 | 27.5 mi | |
| 2008 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,250 | 30.1 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 700 | 49.1 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 545 | 35.7 mi | |
| 2006 | Natural | 535 | 38.7 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 430 | 38.5 mi | |
| 2010 | Smoking | 274 | 39.4 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 | 23827 | 84 |
Six Virginia cities with population within ±25% of Boykins. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Boykins.
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.