In 2025, fire departments serving Leesburg responded to 361 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $473K 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 59% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,510 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $2.0M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 220 | — | |
| 2022 | 257 | +16.8% | |
| 2023 | 291 | +13.2% | |
| 2024 | 381 | +30.9% | |
| 2025 | 361 | -5.2% |
For the 8 building fires Leesburg departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 250 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 | 55 | 22.0% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 40 | 16.0% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 21 | 8.4% | |
| 4 | Other | 18 | 7.2% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 16 | 6.4% | |
| 6 | Vehicle area, other | 14 | 5.6% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 10 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 9 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Wildland, woods | 9 | 3.6% | |
| 10 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 7 | 2.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 51 | 20.4% |
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 Leesburg mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 112 | 44.8% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 29 | 11.6% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 23 | 9.2% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 16 | 6.4% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 10 | 4.0% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 10 | 4.0% | |
| 7 | Cigarette | 8 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 7 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 7 | 2.8% | |
| 10 | Chemical reaction | 6 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 22 | 8.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Leesburg departments in 2025. These 6 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $473,220 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $295,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $150,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $150,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $9,500 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $5,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Leesburg sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 9,854 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Other causes | 1,989 | 40.1 mi | |
| 2012 | Natural | 1,200 | 44.7 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,000 | 46.4 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 640 | 39.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Recreation and ceremony | 500 | 44.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 461 | 14.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 431 | 40.7 mi | |
| 1996 | Recreation and ceremony | 405 | 15.4 mi | |
| 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 400 | 15.8 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 350 | 17.4 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 318 | 35.7 mi | |
| 2008 | Natural | 300 | 41.6 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 Virginia cities with population within ±25% of Leesburg. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
3 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Leesburg.
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.