In 2025, fire departments serving Paden City responded to 22 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $83K 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 82% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
117 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $192K cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 15 | — | |
| 2022 | 28 | +86.7% | |
| 2023 | 24 | -14.3% | |
| 2024 | 28 | +16.7% | |
| 2025 | 22 | -21.4% |
For the 5 building fires Paden City departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 11 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 | 6 | 54.5% | |
| 2 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 18.2% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 9.1% | |
| 4 | Fuel tank, fuel line | 1 | 9.1% | |
| 5 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 1 | 9.1% |
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 Paden City mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 6 | 54.5% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 36.4% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 9.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Paden City departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $83,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $2,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Paden City sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,860 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 | 15.3 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 130 | 43.6 mi | |
| 1995 | Equipment and vehicle use | 125 | 47.3 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 120 | 29.4 mi | |
| 2018 | Arson/incendiarism | 109 | 40.8 mi | |
| 2001 | Smoking | 102 | 24.0 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 22.1 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 100 | 38.7 mi | |
| 1999 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 71 | 20.3 mi | |
| 2014 | Equipment and vehicle use | 70 | 23.9 mi | |
| 1999 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 70 | 35.2 mi | |
| 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 62 | 37.5 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 | 26159 | 117 |
Six West Virginia cities with population within ±25% of Paden City. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Paden City.
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.