In 2025, fire departments serving Colonial Heights responded to 25 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $2K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Unauthorized burning lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 64% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
168 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $667K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 42 | — | |
| 2022 | 39 | -7.1% | |
| 2023 | 32 | -17.9% | |
| 2024 | 30 | -6.2% | |
| 2025 | 25 | -16.7% |
For the 2 building fires Colonial Heights departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 66 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 | 15 | 22.7% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 11 | 16.7% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 8 | 12.1% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 5 | 7.6% | |
| 5 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 4 | 6.1% | |
| 6 | Wall surface: exterior | 3 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Wildland, woods | 3 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 2 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 2 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 1.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 12 | 18.2% |
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 Heights mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 35 | 53.0% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 6 | 9.1% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 5 | 7.6% | |
| 4 | Fireworks | 4 | 6.1% | |
| 5 | Cigarette lighter | 3 | 4.5% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 3.0% | |
| 7 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 2 | 3.0% | |
| 8 | Conducted heat from another fire | 2 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 1.5% | |
| 10 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 1.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 5 | 7.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Colonial Heights departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,500 | Outside equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Colonial Heights sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 56,716 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 7,400 | 47.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 5,964 | 44.4 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,300 | 41.6 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,943 | 43.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,765 | 47.3 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 2,738 | 32.9 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,402 | 47.6 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,200 | 41.1 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,185 | 36.1 mi | |
| 2007 | Natural | 2,115 | 40.9 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,050 | 27.7 mi | |
| 2008 | Natural | 2,000 | 49.9 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 37663 | 168 |
Six Tennessee cities with population within ±25% of Colonial Heights. 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.