In 2025, fire departments serving Eleanor responded to 15 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $180K 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 80% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
76 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $230K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 11 | — | |
| 2022 | 18 | +63.6% | |
| 2023 | 15 | -16.7% | |
| 2024 | 17 | +13.3% | |
| 2025 | 15 | -11.8% |
For the 7 building fires Eleanor departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 14 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 | Wall surface: exterior | 2 | 14.3% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 14.3% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 2 | 14.3% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 5 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 6 | Storage area, other | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 7 | Conveyor | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 8 | Equipment or service area, other | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 9 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 10 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 1 | 7.1% |
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 Eleanor mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 9 | 64.3% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 2 | 14.3% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 4 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 5 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 1 | 7.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Eleanor departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $180,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Eleanor sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 50,596 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 | 42.9 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,328 | 29.0 mi | |
| 1999 | Fireworks | 3,171 | 43.2 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,082 | 36.8 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,250 | 35.0 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,090 | 40.0 mi | |
| 2001 | Fireworks | 2,063 | 43.8 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,033 | 39.6 mi | |
| 2001 | Fireworks | 1,940 | 45.7 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,934 | 49.9 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,825 | 49.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,769 | 48.2 mi |
Top 2 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 Eleanor. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Eleanor.
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.