In 2025, fire departments serving Glen Allen responded to 308 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $493K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 46% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Apr dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,051 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $7.1M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 139 | — | |
| 2022 | 210 | +51.1% | |
| 2023 | 135 | -35.7% | |
| 2024 | 259 | +91.9% | |
| 2025 | 308 | +18.9% |
For the 21 building fires Glen Allen departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 308 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 | 56 | 18.2% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 33 | 10.7% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 32 | 10.4% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 32 | 10.4% | |
| 5 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 19 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Wildland, woods | 19 | 6.2% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 13 | 4.2% | |
| 8 | Other | 10 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 9 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Exterior, exposed surface | 7 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 78 | 25.3% |
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 Glen Allen mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 106 | 34.4% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 50 | 16.2% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 31 | 10.1% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 20 | 6.5% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 19 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 13 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 12 | 3.9% | |
| 8 | Heat source: other | 10 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Cigarette lighter | 9 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Cigarette | 5 | 1.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 33 | 10.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Glen Allen departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 83% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $492,633 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $261,014 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 4 | $250,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Major | Investigated |
| 5 | $241,368 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $189,446 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $79,707 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $46,430 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Glen Allen sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
16 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 1 | |
| 20-29 | 0 | |
| 30-39 | 2 | |
| 40-49 | 3 | |
| 50-59 | 3 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 12,738 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 | 41.6 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,850 | 45.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 907 | 35.1 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 478 | 42.4 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 414 | 32.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 372 | 46.1 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 310 | 31.8 mi | |
| 2018 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 302 | 14.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 273 | 17.7 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 255 | 41.0 mi | |
| 1997 | Debris and open burning | 225 | 31.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 176 | 32.1 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 Virginia cities with population within ±25% of Glen Allen. 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.