In 2025, fire departments serving McGaheysville responded to 25 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $40K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Incomplete 2025 data. McGaheysville's departments reported 25 incidents to NFIRS for 2025, against about 42 in a typical year, so 2025 figures on this page undercount. The 2021–2025 totals are the better guide.
Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 44% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
211 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $966K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 33 | — | |
| 2022 | 55 | +66.7% | |
| 2023 | 43 | -21.8% | |
| 2024 | 55 | +27.9% | |
| 2025* | 25 | — |
* Well below McGaheysville's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.
For the 2 building fires McGaheysville departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 46 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 | 11 | 23.9% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 5 | 10.9% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 5 | 10.9% | |
| 4 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 3 | 6.5% | |
| 5 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 3 | 6.5% | |
| 6 | Storage area, other | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Structural area, other | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 9 | Wall assembly | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 10 | Outside area, other | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 9 | 19.6% |
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 McGaheysville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 16 | 34.8% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 5 | 10.9% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 4 | 8.7% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 6.5% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 6.5% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 6.5% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 6.5% | |
| 8 | Arcing | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 9 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 10 | Cigarette | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 4 | 8.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by McGaheysville departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $40,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $9,000 | Outside storage fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. McGaheysville sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 78,877 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 | 28.3 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 10,326 | 6.2 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 6,131 | 25.6 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,505 | 43.2 mi | |
| 2002 | Arson/incendiarism | 4,200 | 13.8 mi | |
| 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,717 | 10.4 mi | |
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,058 | 49.6 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 2,743 | 37.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 2,564 | 18.7 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 2,206 | 12.9 mi | |
| 2012 | Natural | 2,138 | 30.1 mi | |
| 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 2,057 | 41.2 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 22840 | 211 |
Six Virginia cities with population within ±25% of McGaheysville. 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.