In 2025, fire departments serving Centreville responded to 139 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $400K 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 65% of all calls.
Feb peaks. Jul dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
546 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $1.2M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 88 | — | |
| 2022 | 88 | +0.0% | |
| 2023 | 105 | +19.3% | |
| 2024 | 126 | +20.0% | |
| 2025 | 139 | +10.3% |
For the 42 building fires Centreville departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 64 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 | 13 | 20.3% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 8 | 12.5% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 8 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 7 | 10.9% | |
| 5 | Other | 5 | 7.8% | |
| 6 | Storage area, other | 4 | 6.2% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 4.7% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Duct: hvac, cable, exhaust, heating, or AC | 2 | 3.1% | |
| 10 | Wall surface: exterior | 2 | 3.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 10 | 15.6% |
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 Centreville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 23 | 35.9% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 10 | 15.6% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 8 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 4 | 6.2% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 3 | 4.7% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 4.7% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 4.7% | |
| 8 | Lightning | 3 | 4.7% | |
| 9 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 3 | 4.7% | |
| 10 | Backfire from internal combustion engine | 1 | 1.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 3 | 4.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Centreville departments in 2025. These 5 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $400,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $4,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $200 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $2 | Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Centreville sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 34,656 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Debris and open burning | 3,208 | 44.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,910 | 47.3 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,124 | 46.4 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,066 | 46.2 mi | |
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,000 | 36.1 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,800 | 48.1 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,756 | 47.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,700 | 46.2 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,596 | 45.8 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,580 | 48.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,367 | 46.6 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,250 | 41.7 mi |
Top 3 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Maryland cities with population within ±25% of Centreville. 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.