In 2025, fire departments serving Fairfax responded to 41 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $10K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Aircraft standby lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 90% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
283 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $666K cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 43 | — | |
| 2022 | 72 | +67.4% | |
| 2023 | 73 | +1.4% | |
| 2024 | 54 | -26.0% | |
| 2025 | 41 | -24.1% |
For the 0 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 58 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 | 12 | 20.7% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 10 | 17.2% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 6 | 10.3% | |
| 4 | Storage: supplies or tools; dead storage | 3 | 5.2% | |
| 5 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 3 | 5.2% | |
| 6 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 3.4% | |
| 7 | Outside area, other | 2 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 2 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Wildland, woods | 2 | 3.4% | |
| 10 | Multiple areas | 2 | 3.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 14 | 24.1% |
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 Fairfax mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 26 | 44.8% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 7 | 12.1% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 5 | 8.6% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 4 | 6.9% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 4 | 6.9% | |
| 6 | Cigarette lighter | 3 | 5.2% | |
| 7 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 2 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Heat source: other | 1 | 1.7% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 1.7% | |
| 10 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 1.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 4 | 6.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Fairfax departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $5,000 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $500 | 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. 12,059 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 1,247 | 46.2 mi | |
| 2017 | Debris and open burning | 950 | 42.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 789 | 33.8 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 709 | 26.3 mi | |
| 1993 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 650 | 41.3 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 586 | 20.4 mi | |
| 1994 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 571 | 32.3 mi | |
| 2001 | Equipment and vehicle use | 549 | 47.3 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 481 | 26.6 mi | |
| 1995 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 460 | 43.7 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 436 | 47.5 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 405 | 24.8 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 South Carolina 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.