In 2025, fire departments serving Moundsville responded to 151 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 58% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
866 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $5.1M cumulative property loss. 3 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 209 | — | |
| 2022 | 164 | -21.5% | |
| 2023 | 184 | +12.2% | |
| 2024 | 158 | -14.1% | |
| 2025 | 151 | -4.4% |
For the 47 building fires Moundsville departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 190 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 | 41 | 21.6% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 18 | 9.5% | |
| 3 | Wall surface: exterior | 12 | 6.3% | |
| 4 | Exterior, exposed surface | 12 | 6.3% | |
| 5 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 9 | 4.7% | |
| 6 | Vehicle area, other | 9 | 4.7% | |
| 7 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 8 | 4.2% | |
| 8 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 8 | 4.2% | |
| 9 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 7 | 3.7% | |
| 10 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 7 | 3.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 59 | 31.1% |
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 Moundsville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 115 | 60.5% | |
| 2 | Radiated heat from another fire | 20 | 10.5% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 8 | 4.2% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 6 | 3.2% | |
| 5 | Cigarette | 6 | 3.2% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 5 | 2.6% | |
| 7 | Heat, spark from friction | 4 | 2.1% | |
| 8 | Arcing | 3 | 1.6% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 1.6% | |
| 10 | Heat source: other | 2 | 1.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 18 | 9.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Moundsville departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $39,500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $15,000 | Self-propelled motor home or recreational vehicle | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $8,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $2,500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $2,500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $500 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Moundsville sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
20 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 | 1 | |
| 10-19 | 1 | |
| 20-29 | 5 | |
| 30-39 | 4 | |
| 40-49 | 0 | |
| 50-59 | 4 | |
| 60-69 | 4 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 1 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,330 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Equipment and vehicle use | 147 | 38.1 mi | |
| 2001 | Smoking | 102 | 36.6 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 20.4 mi | |
| 1999 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 71 | 31.7 mi | |
| 2014 | Equipment and vehicle use | 70 | 47.9 mi | |
| 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 62 | 40.3 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 | 40.1 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 55 | 37.0 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 38.8 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 49 | 5.6 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 48 | 30.8 mi | |
| 1992 | Debris and open burning | 45 | 38.8 mi |
Top 5 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 Moundsville. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
5 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Moundsville.
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.