In 2025, fire departments serving Farmville responded to 245 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $150K 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 75% of all calls.
Feb peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
974 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $2.7M cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 203 | — | |
| 2022 | 221 | +8.9% | |
| 2023 | 148 | -33.0% | |
| 2024 | 157 | +6.1% | |
| 2025 | 245 | +56.1% |
For the 24 building fires Farmville departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 193 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 | 44 | 22.8% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 25 | 13.0% | |
| 3 | Wildland, woods | 20 | 10.4% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 17 | 8.8% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 17 | 8.8% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 9 | 4.7% | |
| 7 | Other | 8 | 4.1% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 5 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 4 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Cooking area, kitchen | 4 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 40 | 20.7% |
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 Farmville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 85 | 44.0% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 18 | 9.3% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 16 | 8.3% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 11 | 5.7% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 10 | 5.2% | |
| 6 | Match | 8 | 4.1% | |
| 7 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 8 | 4.1% | |
| 8 | Heat source: other | 7 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 6 | 3.1% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 5 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 19 | 9.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Farmville departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 91% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $45,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $35,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Farmville sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 16,078 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,505 | 45.8 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,614 | 41.7 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 1,200 | 32.2 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,014 | 46.8 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 865 | 23.8 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 850 | 49.4 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 821 | 22.4 mi | |
| 1998 | Natural | 650 | 45.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 545 | 47.5 mi | |
| 2002 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 400 | 36.9 mi | |
| 2009 | Debris and open burning | 370 | 35.6 mi | |
| 2007 | Equipment and vehicle use | 345 | 46.6 mi |
Top 7 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 Farmville. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Farmville.
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.