In 2025, fire departments serving Brookneal responded to 58 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $10K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Vehicle accident, general cleanup lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 79% of all calls.
Feb peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
275 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $32K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 94 | — | |
| 2022 | 40 | -57.4% | |
| 2023 | 41 | +2.5% | |
| 2024 | 42 | +2.4% | |
| 2025 | 58 | +38.1% |
For the 3 building fires Brookneal departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 11 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 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 18.2% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 18.2% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 2 | 18.2% | |
| 4 | Function area, other | 1 | 9.1% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 9.1% | |
| 6 | Storage area, other | 1 | 9.1% | |
| 7 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 1 | 9.1% | |
| 8 | Undetermined | 1 | 9.1% |
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 Brookneal mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arcing | 4 | 36.4% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 3 | 27.3% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 1 | 9.1% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 9.1% | |
| 5 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 9.1% | |
| 6 | Match | 1 | 9.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Brookneal departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $500 | Cultivated grain or crop fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Brookneal sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 27,616 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 11,229 | 47.9 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 2,935 | 46.8 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,871 | 45.1 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 1,200 | 43.2 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,036 | 30.3 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 865 | 45.0 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 821 | 48.9 mi | |
| 2010 | Natural | 779 | 43.5 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 565 | 49.7 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 456 | 44.2 mi | |
| 2007 | Natural | 402 | 45.8 mi | |
| 2002 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 400 | 26.8 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 Virginia cities with population within ±25% of Brookneal. 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.