In 2025, fire departments serving Lorton responded to 116 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $103K 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 53% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
660 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $5.3M cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 125 | — | |
| 2022 | 82 | -34.4% | |
| 2023 | 169 | +106.1% | |
| 2024 | 168 | -0.6% | |
| 2025 | 116 | -31.0% |
For the 7 building fires Lorton departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 230 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 | 54 | 23.5% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 41 | 17.8% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 23 | 10.0% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 13 | 5.7% | |
| 5 | Wildland, woods | 11 | 4.8% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 10 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 9 | 3.9% | |
| 8 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 8 | 3.5% | |
| 9 | Other | 5 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 5 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 51 | 22.2% |
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 Lorton mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 95 | 41.3% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 19 | 8.3% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 16 | 7.0% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 14 | 6.1% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 13 | 5.7% | |
| 6 | Cigarette | 10 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Arcing | 9 | 3.9% | |
| 8 | Heat, spark from friction | 8 | 3.5% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 5 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 5 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 36 | 15.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Lorton departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 99% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $102,778 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $100,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $35,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $31,820 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $29,999 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $20,000 | Outside equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Lorton sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
8 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 | 1 | |
| 20-29 | 1 | |
| 30-39 | 2 | |
| 40-49 | 1 | |
| 50-59 | 3 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 5,997 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 640 | 14.1 mi | |
| 2011 | Recreation and ceremony | 500 | 34.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 461 | 30.3 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 431 | 13.5 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 408 | 47.9 mi | |
| 1996 | Recreation and ceremony | 405 | 44.8 mi | |
| 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 400 | 44.6 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 350 | 45.0 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 344 | 29.2 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 318 | 12.8 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 13.8 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 200 | 25.7 mi |
Top 4 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 Lorton. 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.