In 2025, fire departments serving Keyser responded to 163 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $250K 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 66% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jul dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
860 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $3.4M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 155 | — | |
| 2022 | 174 | +12.3% | |
| 2023 | 221 | +27.0% | |
| 2024 | 147 | -33.5% | |
| 2025 | 163 | +10.9% |
For the 41 building fires Keyser departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 134 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 | 21 | 15.7% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 16 | 11.9% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 15 | 11.2% | |
| 4 | Other | 12 | 9.0% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 9 | 6.7% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 6 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Wildland, woods | 6 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Wall surface: exterior | 5 | 3.7% | |
| 9 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 3 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 3 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 38 | 28.4% |
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 Keyser mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 47 | 35.1% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 15 | 11.2% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 11 | 8.2% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 10 | 7.5% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 8 | 6.0% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 6 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 5 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Cigarette lighter | 5 | 3.7% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 4 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 4 | 3.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 19 | 14.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Keyser departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $85,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $65,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $20,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $2,500 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $2,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $1,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Keyser sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
7 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 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 1 | |
| 30-39 | 0 | |
| 40-49 | 1 | |
| 50-59 | 3 | |
| 60-69 | 1 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 1 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 15,405 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Natural | 2,743 | 39.4 mi | |
| 2001 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,800 | 34.4 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,611 | 43.8 mi | |
| 2019 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1,289 | 45.5 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 888 | 32.9 mi | |
| 2012 | Recreation and ceremony | 755 | 38.9 mi | |
| 2005 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 755 | 29.6 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 610 | 29.9 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 546 | 37.1 mi | |
| 2008 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 480 | 29.2 mi | |
| 2001 | Smoking | 467 | 19.1 mi | |
| 2018 | Arson/incendiarism | 428 | 37.3 mi |
Top 6 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 Keyser. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
3 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Keyser.
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.