In 2025, fire departments serving Oak Grove responded to 12 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $60K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 58% of all calls.
Sep peaks. Apr dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
69 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $325K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 11 | — | |
| 2022 | 12 | +9.1% | |
| 2023 | 13 | +8.3% | |
| 2024 | 21 | +61.5% | |
| 2025 | 12 | -42.9% |
For the 1 building fires Oak Grove departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 19 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 | Outside area, other | 6 | 31.6% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 4 | 21.1% | |
| 3 | Other | 2 | 10.5% | |
| 4 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 5 | Structural area, other | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 6 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 7 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 8 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 9 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 10 | Wildland, woods | 1 | 5.3% |
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 Oak Grove mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 8 | 42.1% | |
| 2 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 10.5% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 10.5% | |
| 4 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 10.5% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 7 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 8 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 9 | Conducted heat from another fire | 1 | 5.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Oak Grove departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $60,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $40,000 | Building or structure weakened or collapsed | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Oak Grove sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 9,034 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 | 43.5 mi | |
| 2012 | Natural | 1,200 | 49.8 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 640 | 30.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Recreation and ceremony | 500 | 37.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 461 | 12.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 431 | 29.8 mi | |
| 1996 | Recreation and ceremony | 405 | 24.7 mi | |
| 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 400 | 24.9 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 350 | 25.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 344 | 48.5 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 318 | 26.6 mi | |
| 2008 | Natural | 300 | 47.6 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 | 22443 | 69 |
Six Virginia cities with population within ±25% of Oak Grove. 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.