In 2025, fire departments serving Halifax responded to 62 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $175K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 57% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
297 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $933K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 46 | — | |
| 2022 | 59 | +28.3% | |
| 2023 | 78 | +32.2% | |
| 2024 | 52 | -33.3% | |
| 2025 | 62 | +19.2% |
For the 8 building fires Halifax departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 67 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 | 20 | 29.9% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 14 | 20.9% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 5 | 7.5% | |
| 4 | Other | 3 | 4.5% | |
| 5 | Storage room, area, tank, or bin | 3 | 4.5% | |
| 6 | Outside area, other | 3 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 3 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 2 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Wall surface: exterior | 2 | 3.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 10 | 14.9% |
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 Halifax mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 43 | 64.2% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 6 | 9.0% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 5 | 7.5% | |
| 4 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 3.0% | |
| 5 | Molten, hot material | 2 | 3.0% | |
| 6 | Cigarette lighter | 2 | 3.0% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 1 | 1.5% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 1.5% | |
| 9 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 1.5% | |
| 10 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 1.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 3 | 4.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Halifax departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $175,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $20,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $6,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $5,000 | Outside storage fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $4,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $300 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $250 | Grass fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Halifax sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 8,261 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 | 1,778 | 49.5 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,036 | 36.8 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 865 | 47.5 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 456 | 24.7 mi | |
| 2002 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 400 | 46.9 mi | |
| 1999 | Natural | 400 | 39.0 mi | |
| 2006 | Natural | 380 | 39.1 mi | |
| 2009 | Debris and open burning | 370 | 48.5 mi | |
| 2005 | Natural | 350 | 43.2 mi | |
| 2001 | Debris and open burning | 260 | 39.6 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 216 | 37.4 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 172 | 41.7 mi |
Top 5 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 Halifax. 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.