In 2025, fire departments serving Fort Gay responded to 42 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $1.0M 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 93% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
223 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $2.1M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 33 | — | |
| 2022 | 46 | +39.4% | |
| 2023 | 45 | -2.2% | |
| 2024 | 57 | +26.7% | |
| 2025 | 42 | -26.3% |
For the 19 building fires Fort Gay departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 85 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 | 59 | 69.4% | |
| 2 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 5 | 5.9% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 4.7% | |
| 4 | Wildland, woods | 3 | 3.5% | |
| 5 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 6 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 7 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 1.2% | |
| 9 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 1.2% | |
| 10 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 1.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 5 | 5.9% |
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 Fort Gay mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 72 | 84.7% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 3 | 3.5% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 6 | Lightning | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 7 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 1.2% | |
| 8 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 1 | 1.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Fort Gay departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,000,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $5,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $4,500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Fort Gay sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 70,211 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 10,000 | 49.7 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 7,500 | 34.8 mi | |
| 1994 | Fireworks | 4,552 | 43.1 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,475 | 43.3 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,328 | 44.3 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,082 | 43.0 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 2,575 | 48.1 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,500 | 42.6 mi | |
| 2001 | Fireworks | 2,412 | 44.1 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,250 | 37.9 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,233 | 45.4 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,200 | 18.8 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 West Virginia cities with population within ±25% of Fort Gay. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Fort Gay.
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.