In 2025, fire departments serving Hurt responded to 50 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $56K 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 60% of all calls.
Oct peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
358 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $552K cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 67 | — | |
| 2022 | 74 | +10.4% | |
| 2023 | 112 | +51.4% | |
| 2024 | 55 | -50.9% | |
| 2025 | 50 | -9.1% |
For the 15 building fires Hurt departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 189 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 | Outside area, other | 47 | 24.9% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 47 | 24.9% | |
| 3 | Other | 21 | 11.1% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 7 | 3.7% | |
| 5 | Wildland, woods | 7 | 3.7% | |
| 6 | Vehicle area, other | 6 | 3.2% | |
| 7 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 5 | 2.6% | |
| 8 | Cooking area, kitchen | 5 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Railroad right of way: on or near | 5 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 4 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 35 | 18.5% |
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 Hurt mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 109 | 57.7% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 10 | 5.3% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 9 | 4.8% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 9 | 4.8% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 7 | 3.7% | |
| 6 | Cigarette lighter | 7 | 3.7% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 5 | 2.6% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 5 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Heat, spark from friction | 5 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 4 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 19 | 10.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Hurt departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $55,800 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Hurt sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 39,133 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 11,229 | 44.0 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,990 | 41.2 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 2,935 | 35.1 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,871 | 36.0 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,676 | 41.0 mi | |
| 2008 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,550 | 33.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,349 | 46.2 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,300 | 47.3 mi | |
| 1999 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,285 | 37.1 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 1,200 | 49.0 mi | |
| 2002 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,146 | 38.4 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 1,140 | 36.5 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 Hurt. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Hurt.
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.