In 2025, fire departments serving Franconia responded to 13 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $5K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Passenger vehicle fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 77% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
85 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $169K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 57 | — | |
| 2022* | 0 | — | |
| 2023* | 8 | — | |
| 2024* | 7 | — | |
| 2025 | 13 | — |
* Well below Franconia's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.
For the 2 building fires Franconia departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 28 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 7 | 25.0% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 4 | 14.3% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 10.7% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 3 | 10.7% | |
| 5 | Other | 2 | 7.1% | |
| 6 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 7.1% | |
| 7 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 7.1% | |
| 8 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 10 | Fuel tank, fuel line | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 2 | 7.1% |
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 Franconia mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 13 | 46.4% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 14.3% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 2 | 7.1% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 2 | 7.1% | |
| 5 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 7.1% | |
| 6 | Cigarette lighter | 2 | 7.1% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Candle | 1 | 3.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Franconia departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $4,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $1,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Franconia sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 5,868 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 640 | 19.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Recreation and ceremony | 500 | 29.3 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 461 | 26.1 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 431 | 10.5 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 408 | 43.2 mi | |
| 1996 | Recreation and ceremony | 405 | 44.2 mi | |
| 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 400 | 44.2 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 350 | 44.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 344 | 28.5 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 318 | 18.1 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 19.2 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 200 | 31.0 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 Virginia cities with population within ±25% of Franconia. 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.