In 2025, fire departments serving Colonial Beach responded to 49 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $200K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Hazardous condition, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 53% of all calls.
Aug peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
335 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $620K cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 50 | — | |
| 2022 | 59 | +18.0% | |
| 2023 | 68 | +15.3% | |
| 2024 | 109 | +60.3% | |
| 2025 | 49 | -55.0% |
For the 4 building fires Colonial Beach departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 86 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 | 25 | 29.1% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 13 | 15.1% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 7 | 8.1% | |
| 4 | Wildland, woods | 7 | 8.1% | |
| 5 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 6 | 7.0% | |
| 6 | Structural area, other | 3 | 3.5% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 3 | 3.5% | |
| 8 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 3 | 3.5% | |
| 9 | Exterior stairway, ramp, or fire escape | 2 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 2 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 15 | 17.4% |
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 Colonial Beach mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 37 | 43.0% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 11 | 12.8% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 8 | 9.3% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 7 | 8.1% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 6 | 7.0% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 5 | 5.8% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 4 | 4.7% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 2.3% | |
| 9 | Match | 2 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 1 | 1.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 3 | 3.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Colonial Beach departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Colonial Beach sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 8,154 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 640 | 29.8 mi | |
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 483 | 49.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 478 | 39.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 431 | 32.8 mi | |
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 410 | 48.4 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 370 | 42.0 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 370 | 46.9 mi | |
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 360 | 46.3 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 344 | 25.0 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 318 | 33.6 mi | |
| 2007 | Debris and open burning | 306 | 45.7 mi | |
| 2018 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 302 | 35.3 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 Colonial Beach. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Colonial Beach.
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.