In 2025, fire departments serving Newport News responded to 1,171 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $327K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 44% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
5,134 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $13.9M cumulative property loss. 5 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 984 | — | |
| 2022 | 985 | +0.1% | |
| 2023 | 927 | -5.9% | |
| 2024 | 1,067 | +15.1% | |
| 2025 | 1,171 | +9.7% |
For the 98 building fires Newport News departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 1,552 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 274 | 17.7% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 172 | 11.1% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 156 | 10.1% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 149 | 9.6% | |
| 5 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 133 | 8.6% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 109 | 7.0% | |
| 7 | Wildland, woods | 78 | 5.0% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 47 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Vehicle area, other | 36 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Other | 28 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 370 | 23.8% |
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 Newport News mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 448 | 28.9% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 158 | 10.2% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 133 | 8.6% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 124 | 8.0% | |
| 5 | Cigarette | 121 | 7.8% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 94 | 6.1% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 92 | 5.9% | |
| 8 | Heat source: other | 75 | 4.8% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 69 | 4.4% | |
| 10 | Cigarette lighter | 36 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 202 | 13.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Newport News departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 49% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $326,500 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $290,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $200,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $120,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Newport News sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
29 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 | 6 | |
| 30-39 | 10 | |
| 40-49 | 3 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 5 | |
| 70-79 | 1 | |
| 80+ | 2 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 19,148 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Natural | 6,574 | 36.4 mi | |
| 2008 | Equipment and vehicle use | 4,884 | 38.3 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,100 | 41.7 mi | |
| 2006 | Natural | 535 | 35.5 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 500 | 49.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 478 | 44.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 372 | 25.2 mi | |
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 310 | 47.9 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 310 | 33.9 mi | |
| 2007 | Arson/incendiarism | 258 | 43.5 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 255 | 48.3 mi | |
| 2007 | Arson/incendiarism | 221 | 13.5 mi |
Top 9 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 Newport News. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Newport News.
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.