In 2025, fire departments serving Broadway responded to 51 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $77K 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 59% of all calls.
Mar peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
302 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $1.1M cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 68 | — | |
| 2022 | 44 | -35.3% | |
| 2023 | 87 | +97.7% | |
| 2024 | 52 | -40.2% | |
| 2025 | 51 | -1.9% |
For the 14 building fires Broadway departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 55 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 | 22 | 40.0% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 6 | 10.9% | |
| 3 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 3 | 5.5% | |
| 4 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 3 | 5.5% | |
| 5 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 3 | 5.5% | |
| 6 | Wall surface: exterior | 2 | 3.6% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Corridor, mall | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 9 | Entrance way, lobby | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 10 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 11 | 20.0% |
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 Broadway mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 31 | 56.4% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 5 | 9.1% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 7.3% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 3 | 5.5% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 3 | 5.5% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 3.6% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 8 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 10 | Cigarette | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 3 | 5.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Broadway departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $77,300 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $77,300 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $68,500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Broadway sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
7 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 1 | |
| 20-29 | 2 | |
| 30-39 | 0 | |
| 40-49 | 1 | |
| 50-59 | 1 | |
| 60-69 | 2 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 71,941 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Recreation and ceremony | 16,021 | 26.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 10,326 | 22.0 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 6,131 | 26.9 mi | |
| 2002 | Arson/incendiarism | 4,200 | 15.2 mi | |
| 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,717 | 10.5 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 2,743 | 21.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 2,564 | 14.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 2,206 | 29.2 mi | |
| 2012 | Natural | 2,138 | 24.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Other causes | 1,989 | 35.5 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,935 | 14.2 mi | |
| 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,800 | 45.6 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 Broadway. 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.