In 2025, fire departments serving Falmouth responded to 19 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 90% of all calls.
Sep peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
130 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $551K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 30 | — | |
| 2022 | 26 | -13.3% | |
| 2023 | 28 | +7.7% | |
| 2024 | 27 | -3.6% | |
| 2025 | 19 | -29.6% |
For the 8 building fires Falmouth departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 6 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 | Outside area, other | 2 | 33.3% | |
| 2 | Storage area, other | 1 | 16.7% | |
| 3 | Storage: supplies or tools; dead storage | 1 | 16.7% | |
| 4 | Wall surface: exterior | 1 | 16.7% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 1 | 16.7% |
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 Falmouth mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 4 | 66.7% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 2 | 33.3% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Falmouth sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 32,255 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Recreation and ceremony | 16,021 | 49.6 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 6,131 | 48.0 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,505 | 47.1 mi | |
| 2011 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 907 | 32.1 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 640 | 15.3 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 431 | 38.5 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 414 | 30.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 344 | 43.6 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 318 | 18.7 mi | |
| 2018 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 302 | 31.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 273 | 49.9 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 17.7 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 Virginia cities with population within ±25% of Falmouth. 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.