In 2025, fire departments serving Cowen responded to 26 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $95K 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 88% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
99 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $992K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 15 | — | |
| 2022 | 19 | +26.7% | |
| 2023 | 19 | +0.0% | |
| 2024 | 20 | +5.3% | |
| 2025 | 26 | +30.0% |
For the 11 building fires Cowen departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 37 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 | 25 | 67.6% | |
| 2 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 4 | 10.8% | |
| 3 | Other | 1 | 2.7% | |
| 4 | Storage area, other | 1 | 2.7% | |
| 5 | Conduit, pipe, utility, or ventilation shaft | 1 | 2.7% | |
| 6 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 1 | 2.7% | |
| 7 | Ceiling & floor assembly, crawl space b/t stories | 1 | 2.7% | |
| 8 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 1 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Wall surface: exterior | 1 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Outside area, other | 1 | 2.7% |
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 Cowen mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 31 | 83.8% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 5.4% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 1 | 2.7% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 1 | 2.7% | |
| 5 | Cigarette lighter | 1 | 2.7% | |
| 6 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 1 | 2.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Cowen departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $95,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $30,000 | Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $10,000 | Camper or recreational vehicle (RV) fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Cowen sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 36,758 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 11,381 | 49.0 mi | |
| 1999 | Fireworks | 4,637 | 45.8 mi | |
| 1999 | Fireworks | 3,706 | 35.7 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,033 | 37.2 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,800 | 33.2 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,000 | 39.5 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 955 | 46.7 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 900 | 49.6 mi | |
| 2015 | Arson/incendiarism | 894 | 7.3 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 833 | 43.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 806 | 41.2 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 790 | 37.5 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 | 26206 | 99 |
Six West Virginia cities with population within ±25% of Cowen. 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.