In 2025, fire departments serving Cross Lanes responded to 15 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $150K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Incomplete 2025 data. Cross Lanes's departments reported 15 incidents to NFIRS for 2025, against about 105 in a typical year, so 2025 figures on this page undercount. The 2021–2025 totals are the better guide.
Fires in structures other than in a building lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 100% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
526 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $3.8M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 131 | — | |
| 2022 | 122 | -6.9% | |
| 2023 | 130 | +6.6% | |
| 2024 | 128 | -1.5% | |
| 2025* | 15 | — |
* Well below Cross Lanes's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.
For the 6 building fires Cross Lanes departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 136 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 | Other | 29 | 21.3% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 28 | 20.6% | |
| 3 | Wildland, woods | 11 | 8.1% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 8 | 5.9% | |
| 5 | Vehicle area, other | 5 | 3.7% | |
| 6 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 5 | 3.7% | |
| 7 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 5 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 4 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 3 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 35 | 25.7% |
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 Cross Lanes mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 98 | 72.1% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 8 | 5.9% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 7 | 5.1% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 5 | 3.7% | |
| 5 | Heat, spark from friction | 3 | 2.2% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 1.5% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 1.5% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 0.7% | |
| 9 | Arcing | 1 | 0.7% | |
| 10 | Molten, hot material | 1 | 0.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 8 | 5.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Cross Lanes departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $1,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Cross Lanes sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 57,942 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Fireworks | 4,637 | 31.9 mi | |
| 1999 | Fireworks | 3,706 | 39.3 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,484 | 44.2 mi | |
| 1999 | Fireworks | 3,358 | 40.0 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,328 | 20.8 mi | |
| 1999 | Fireworks | 3,171 | 34.0 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,082 | 29.4 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,250 | 28.9 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,233 | 49.3 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,090 | 37.5 mi | |
| 2001 | Fireworks | 2,063 | 34.5 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,033 | 29.6 mi |
Top 10 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six West Virginia cities with population within ±25% of Cross Lanes. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Cross Lanes.
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.