In 2025, fire departments serving Martinsburg responded to 613 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $400K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Vehicle accident, general cleanup lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 55% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
3,617 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $14.7M cumulative property loss. 6 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 668 | — | |
| 2022 | 877 | +31.3% | |
| 2023 | 735 | -16.2% | |
| 2024 | 724 | -1.5% | |
| 2025 | 613 | -15.3% |
For the 45 building fires Martinsburg departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 675 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 | 109 | 16.1% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 90 | 13.3% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 77 | 11.4% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 61 | 9.0% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 39 | 5.8% | |
| 6 | Other | 24 | 3.6% | |
| 7 | Wall surface: exterior | 18 | 2.7% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 15 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 15 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 15 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 212 | 31.4% |
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 Martinsburg mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 348 | 51.6% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 50 | 7.4% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 44 | 6.5% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 40 | 5.9% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 35 | 5.2% | |
| 6 | Cigarette lighter | 26 | 3.9% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 22 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 20 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Cigarette | 17 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 15 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 58 | 8.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Martinsburg departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 84% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $400,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $70,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $50,000 | Cultivated trees or nursery stock fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $50,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $40,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $35,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Martinsburg sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
24 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 | 2 | |
| 30-39 | 5 | |
| 40-49 | 4 | |
| 50-59 | 1 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 2 | |
| 80+ | 1 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 10,137 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 | 46.4 mi | |
| 2012 | Natural | 1,200 | 44.3 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,000 | 17.1 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 888 | 45.4 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 610 | 43.6 mi | |
| 2008 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 480 | 49.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 461 | 43.4 mi | |
| 1996 | Recreation and ceremony | 405 | 24.0 mi | |
| 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 400 | 24.7 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 350 | 25.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 345 | 47.3 mi | |
| 1999 | Natural | 315 | 49.5 mi |
Top 8 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 Martinsburg. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
5 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Martinsburg.
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.