In 2025, fire departments serving Fairfax responded to 13 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K 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 85% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
62 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $2.2M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 12 | — | |
| 2022 | 18 | +50.0% | |
| 2023 | 13 | -27.8% | |
| 2024* | 6 | — | |
| 2025 | 13 | — |
* Well below Fairfax'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 3 building fires Fairfax departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 33 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 | 20 | 60.6% | |
| 2 | Other | 2 | 6.1% | |
| 3 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 6.1% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 6.1% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 2 | 6.1% | |
| 6 | Egress/exit, other | 1 | 3.0% | |
| 7 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 3.0% | |
| 8 | Storage area, other | 1 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 1 | 3.0% |
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 Fairfax mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 25 | 75.8% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 9.1% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 6.1% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 6.1% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 1 | 3.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Fairfax departments in 2025. These 6 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $3,500 | Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $3,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $3,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Fairfax sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,802 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 400 | 48.4 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 290 | 41.8 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 217 | 43.8 mi | |
| 2003 | Equipment and vehicle use | 200 | 43.4 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 180 | 21.6 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 150 | 33.7 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 124 | 32.2 mi | |
| 2009 | Debris and open burning | 113 | 32.9 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 108 | 30.4 mi | |
| 2001 | Debris and open burning | 105 | 38.1 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 96 | 49.7 mi | |
| 1994 | Debris and open burning | 95 | 44.2 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 55332 | 62 |
Six Minnesota cities with population within ±25% of Fairfax. 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.