In 2025, fire departments serving Poca responded to 51 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $50K 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 80% of all calls.
Feb peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
314 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $1.6M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 46 | — | |
| 2022 | 67 | +45.7% | |
| 2023 | 84 | +25.4% | |
| 2024 | 66 | -21.4% | |
| 2025 | 51 | -22.7% |
For the 20 building fires Poca departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 48 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 | 23 | 47.9% | |
| 2 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 4 | 8.3% | |
| 3 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 4 | 8.3% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 4.2% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 4.2% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 2 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Interior stairway or ramp | 1 | 2.1% | |
| 8 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 1 | 2.1% | |
| 9 | Storage room, area, tank, or bin | 1 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Storage: supplies or tools; dead storage | 1 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 7 | 14.6% |
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 Poca mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 38 | 79.2% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 4.2% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 2 | 4.2% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 2.1% | |
| 5 | Incendiary device | 1 | 2.1% | |
| 6 | Cigarette | 1 | 2.1% | |
| 7 | Cigarette lighter | 1 | 2.1% | |
| 8 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 1 | 2.1% | |
| 9 | Chemical reaction | 1 | 2.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Poca departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Poca sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
7 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 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 2 | |
| 30-39 | 0 | |
| 40-49 | 0 | |
| 50-59 | 2 | |
| 60-69 | 2 | |
| 70-79 | 1 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 56,963 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Fireworks | 4,637 | 35.4 mi | |
| 1999 | Fireworks | 3,706 | 42.5 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,484 | 47.5 mi | |
| 1999 | Fireworks | 3,358 | 43.5 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,328 | 23.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Fireworks | 3,171 | 37.2 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,082 | 32.0 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,250 | 31.1 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,090 | 38.6 mi | |
| 2001 | Fireworks | 2,063 | 37.7 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,033 | 32.4 mi | |
| 2001 | Fireworks | 1,940 | 39.6 mi |
Top 2 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 Poca. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Poca.
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.