In 2025, fire departments serving Chantilly responded to 137 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $65K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 64% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
912 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $2.6M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 168 | — | |
| 2022 | 137 | -18.5% | |
| 2023 | 238 | +73.7% | |
| 2024 | 232 | -2.5% | |
| 2025 | 137 | -40.9% |
For the 2 building fires Chantilly departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 274 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 | Outside area, other | 53 | 19.3% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 52 | 19.0% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 34 | 12.4% | |
| 4 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 34 | 12.4% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 15 | 5.5% | |
| 6 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 9 | 3.3% | |
| 7 | Wildland, woods | 8 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Other | 7 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Cooking area, kitchen | 7 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Vehicle area, other | 7 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 48 | 17.5% |
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 Chantilly mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 126 | 46.0% | |
| 2 | Cigarette | 32 | 11.7% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 22 | 8.0% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 15 | 5.5% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 15 | 5.5% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 13 | 4.7% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 12 | 4.4% | |
| 8 | Heat from undetermined smoking material | 7 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 6 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Hot ember or ash | 5 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 21 | 7.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Chantilly departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $65,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $12,242 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $3,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $3,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $1,500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $1,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $500 | Outside storage fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $500 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Chantilly sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 9,083 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Other causes | 1,989 | 40.7 mi | |
| 2012 | Natural | 1,200 | 47.8 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 640 | 23.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Recreation and ceremony | 500 | 39.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 461 | 19.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 431 | 27.8 mi | |
| 1996 | Recreation and ceremony | 405 | 26.9 mi | |
| 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 400 | 26.8 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 350 | 27.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 344 | 46.0 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 318 | 19.9 mi | |
| 2008 | Natural | 300 | 46.2 mi |
Top 6 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 Chantilly. 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.