In 2025, fire departments serving Pennington Gap responded to 19 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $75K 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 79% of all calls.
Nov peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
22 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $151K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 0 | — | |
| 2022* | 2 | — | |
| 2023* | 1 | — | |
| 2024* | 0 | — | |
| 2025 | 19 | — |
* Well below Pennington Gap'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 8 building fires Pennington Gap departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 12 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 | 3 | 25.0% | |
| 2 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 16.7% | |
| 3 | Storage area, other | 1 | 8.3% | |
| 4 | Storage: supplies or tools; dead storage | 1 | 8.3% | |
| 5 | Equipment or service area, other | 1 | 8.3% | |
| 6 | Structural area, other | 1 | 8.3% | |
| 7 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 1 | 8.3% | |
| 8 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 1 | 8.3% | |
| 9 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 1 | 8.3% |
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 Pennington Gap mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 9 | 75.0% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 8.3% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 1 | 8.3% | |
| 4 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 8.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Pennington Gap departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 99% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $12,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $2,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Pennington Gap sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 82,263 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 10,000 | 49.4 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 7,400 | 13.7 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 4,070 | 47.2 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,860 | 25.1 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,539 | 16.6 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,500 | 45.5 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,300 | 9.5 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,200 | 46.5 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,100 | 44.4 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,040 | 20.0 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,000 | 25.3 mi | |
| 2000 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 2,850 | 26.6 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 | 24277 | 22 |
Six Virginia cities with population within ±25% of Pennington Gap. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Pennington Gap.
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.