In 2025, fire departments serving Dumfries responded to 186 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $400K 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 66% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
840 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $3.8M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 145 | — | |
| 2022 | 169 | +16.6% | |
| 2023 | 164 | -3.0% | |
| 2024 | 176 | +7.3% | |
| 2025 | 186 | +5.7% |
For the 9 building fires Dumfries departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 167 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 | 33 | 19.8% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 23 | 13.8% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 22 | 13.2% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 18 | 10.8% | |
| 5 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 8 | 4.8% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 5 | 3.0% | |
| 7 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 5 | 3.0% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 5 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Other | 4 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 4 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 40 | 24.0% |
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 Dumfries mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 84 | 50.3% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 16 | 9.6% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 14 | 8.4% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 9 | 5.4% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 8 | 4.8% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 6 | 3.6% | |
| 7 | Cigarette | 6 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 5 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 1.8% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 3 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 13 | 7.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Dumfries departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 96% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $400,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $150,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $70,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $10,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $10,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $6,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Dumfries sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 9,222 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Other causes | 1,989 | 49.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 907 | 49.0 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 640 | 3.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Recreation and ceremony | 500 | 45.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 461 | 39.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 431 | 22.2 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 414 | 47.6 mi | |
| 1996 | Recreation and ceremony | 405 | 47.7 mi | |
| 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 400 | 47.3 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 350 | 47.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 344 | 33.2 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 318 | 5.5 mi |
Top 8 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 Dumfries. 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.