In 2025, fire departments serving Fayetteville responded to 114 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $500K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Vehicle accident, general cleanup lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 68% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
486 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $1.4M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 105 | — | |
| 2022 | 83 | -21.0% | |
| 2023 | 97 | +16.9% | |
| 2024 | 87 | -10.3% | |
| 2025 | 114 | +31.0% |
For the 11 building fires Fayetteville departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 124 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 | 21 | 16.9% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 19 | 15.3% | |
| 3 | Exterior, exposed surface | 14 | 11.3% | |
| 4 | Wildland, woods | 12 | 9.7% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 8 | 6.5% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 7 | 5.6% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 5 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 4 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Wall surface: exterior | 4 | 3.2% | |
| 10 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 3 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 27 | 21.8% |
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 Fayetteville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 41 | 33.1% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 25 | 20.2% | |
| 3 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 18 | 14.5% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 14 | 11.3% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 6 | 4.8% | |
| 6 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 4 | 3.2% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 2.4% | |
| 8 | Match | 3 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 1.6% | |
| 10 | Cigarette lighter | 2 | 1.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 6 | 4.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Fayetteville departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 91% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $500,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $60,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $43,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $26,668 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $20,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $18,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $15,700 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Fayetteville sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 60,347 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 | 12.7 mi | |
| 1999 | Fireworks | 3,706 | 7.2 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,484 | 26.9 mi | |
| 1999 | Fireworks | 3,358 | 16.7 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,328 | 36.9 mi | |
| 2001 | Fireworks | 3,186 | 41.9 mi | |
| 1999 | Fireworks | 3,171 | 29.4 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,082 | 38.7 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,859 | 31.3 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,533 | 44.6 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,250 | 43.5 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,233 | 50.0 mi |
Top 3 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 Fayetteville. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Fayetteville.
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.