In 2025, fire departments serving Manassas responded to 791 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $750K 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. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
4,268 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $14.1M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 716 | — | |
| 2022 | 827 | +15.5% | |
| 2023 | 1,018 | +23.1% | |
| 2024 | 916 | -10.0% | |
| 2025 | 791 | -13.6% |
For the 88 building fires Manassas departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 804 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 | 193 | 24.0% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 119 | 14.8% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 77 | 9.6% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 50 | 6.2% | |
| 5 | Other | 41 | 5.1% | |
| 6 | Vehicle area, other | 33 | 4.1% | |
| 7 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 18 | 2.2% | |
| 8 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 17 | 2.1% | |
| 9 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 15 | 1.9% | |
| 10 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 14 | 1.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 227 | 28.2% |
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 Manassas mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 474 | 59.0% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 49 | 6.1% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 47 | 5.8% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 46 | 5.7% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 25 | 3.1% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 25 | 3.1% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 25 | 3.1% | |
| 8 | Cigarette | 18 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Hot ember or ash | 15 | 1.9% | |
| 10 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 11 | 1.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 69 | 8.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Manassas departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 78% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $750,000 | Fire, other | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $500,000 | Fire, other | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $440,200 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 4 | $300,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 5 | $250,000 | Outside storage fire | Major | Investigated |
| 6 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 7 | $228,900 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $100,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Manassas sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 34,138 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Recreation and ceremony | 16,021 | 45.5 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 6,131 | 46.9 mi | |
| 2012 | Natural | 2,138 | 47.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Other causes | 1,989 | 38.5 mi | |
| 2012 | Natural | 1,200 | 46.7 mi | |
| 2000 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,113 | 48.5 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 640 | 15.0 mi | |
| 2011 | Recreation and ceremony | 500 | 45.1 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 461 | 28.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 431 | 27.8 mi | |
| 1996 | Recreation and ceremony | 405 | 32.5 mi | |
| 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 400 | 32.1 mi |
Top 10 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 Manassas. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Manassas.
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.