In 2025, fire departments serving Disputanta responded to 69 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $435K 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 51% of all calls.
Jul peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
144 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $802K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 37 | — | |
| 2022* | 0 | — | |
| 2023* | 0 | — | |
| 2024 | 38 | — | |
| 2025 | 69 | +81.6% |
* Well below Disputanta'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 5 building fires Disputanta departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 42 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 | 11 | 26.2% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 10 | 23.8% | |
| 3 | Other | 3 | 7.1% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 3 | 7.1% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 4.8% | |
| 6 | Entrance way, lobby | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 7 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 8 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Office | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Closet | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 8 | 19.0% |
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 Disputanta mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 20 | 47.6% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 5 | 11.9% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 4 | 9.5% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 4 | 9.5% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 3 | 7.1% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 7.1% | |
| 7 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 1 | 2.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Disputanta departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 99% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $435,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $75,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $75,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $10,000 | Fire in portable building, fixed location | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Disputanta sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 8,744 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,850 | 18.7 mi | |
| 2008 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,250 | 31.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 545 | 28.0 mi | |
| 2011 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 372 | 36.9 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 310 | 22.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 273 | 49.1 mi | |
| 2008 | Equipment and vehicle use | 223 | 35.3 mi | |
| 2007 | Arson/incendiarism | 221 | 46.3 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 213 | 46.2 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 208 | 46.0 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 202 | 49.3 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 198 | 10.0 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 Virginia cities with population within ±25% of Disputanta. 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.