In 2025, fire departments serving Institute responded to 23 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Trash or rubbish fire, contained lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 65% of all calls.
Feb peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
134 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $2.2M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 45 | — | |
| 2022* | 12 | — | |
| 2023 | 28 | — | |
| 2024 | 26 | -7.1% | |
| 2025 | 23 | -11.5% |
* Well below Institute'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 1 building fires Institute departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 30 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 | 11 | 36.7% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 5 | 16.7% | |
| 3 | Multiple areas | 3 | 10.0% | |
| 4 | Duct: hvac, cable, exhaust, heating, or AC | 2 | 6.7% | |
| 5 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 2 | 6.7% | |
| 6 | Vacant structural area | 2 | 6.7% | |
| 7 | Other | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Exterior stairway, ramp, or fire escape | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 10 | Awning | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 1 | 3.3% |
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 Institute mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 27 | 90.0% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 3 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 4 | Multiple heat sources including multiple ignitions | 1 | 3.3% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Institute sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 59,509 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Fireworks | 4,637 | 29.4 mi | |
| 1999 | Fireworks | 3,706 | 37.4 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,484 | 40.5 mi | |
| 1999 | Fireworks | 3,358 | 36.7 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,328 | 17.0 mi | |
| 2001 | Fireworks | 3,186 | 46.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Fireworks | 3,171 | 30.2 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,082 | 25.6 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,250 | 25.3 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,233 | 45.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,090 | 34.5 mi | |
| 2001 | Fireworks | 2,063 | 30.8 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 West Virginia cities with population within ±25% of Institute. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Institute.
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.