In 2025, fire departments serving Danville responded to 72 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $10K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Vehicle accident, general cleanup lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 71% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
475 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $674K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 90 | — | |
| 2022 | 105 | +16.7% | |
| 2023 | 105 | +0.0% | |
| 2024 | 103 | -1.9% | |
| 2025 | 72 | -30.1% |
For the 12 building fires Danville departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 135 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 | 48 | 35.6% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 13 | 9.6% | |
| 3 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 10 | 7.4% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 9 | 6.7% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 9 | 6.7% | |
| 6 | Wildland, woods | 6 | 4.4% | |
| 7 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 5 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 4 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Other | 3 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Office | 3 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 25 | 18.5% |
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 Danville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 93 | 68.9% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 11 | 8.1% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 9 | 6.7% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 5 | 3.7% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 2.2% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 1.5% | |
| 7 | Multiple heat sources including multiple ignitions | 2 | 1.5% | |
| 8 | Heat source: other | 1 | 0.7% | |
| 9 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 0.7% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 0.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 7 | 5.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Danville departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $10,000 | Fire in portable building, fixed location | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Danville sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 69,607 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 | 28.1 mi | |
| 1994 | Fireworks | 4,552 | 35.2 mi | |
| 1999 | Fireworks | 3,706 | 38.5 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,484 | 24.9 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,475 | 35.7 mi | |
| 1999 | Fireworks | 3,358 | 26.5 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,328 | 4.7 mi | |
| 2001 | Fireworks | 3,186 | 26.5 mi | |
| 1999 | Fireworks | 3,171 | 14.0 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,082 | 4.9 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,859 | 36.5 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 2,575 | 45.3 mi |
Top 4 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 Danville. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Danville.
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.