In 2025, fire departments serving Poquoson responded to 95 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $750K 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 52% of all calls.
Aug peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
435 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $4.5M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 68 | — | |
| 2022 | 107 | +57.4% | |
| 2023 | 76 | -29.0% | |
| 2024 | 89 | +17.1% | |
| 2025 | 95 | +6.7% |
For the 9 building fires Poquoson departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 90 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 | 14 | 15.6% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 12 | 13.3% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 12 | 13.3% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 7 | 7.8% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 7 | 7.8% | |
| 6 | Other | 3 | 3.3% | |
| 7 | Exterior stairway, ramp, or fire escape | 3 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 3 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Wall surface: exterior | 3 | 3.3% | |
| 10 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 3 | 3.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 23 | 25.6% |
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 Poquoson mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 16 | 17.8% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 14 | 15.6% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 11 | 12.2% | |
| 4 | Cigarette lighter | 7 | 7.8% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 6 | 6.7% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 6 | 6.7% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 5 | 5.6% | |
| 8 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 5 | 5.6% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 4.4% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 3 | 3.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 13 | 14.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Poquoson departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 99% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $750,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $750,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $400,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 4 | $250,000 | Water vehicle fire | Major | Investigated |
| 5 | $250,000 | Water vehicle fire | Major | Investigated |
| 6 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $50,000 | Water vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $10,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Poquoson 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 | 0 | |
| 30-39 | 3 | |
| 40-49 | 0 | |
| 50-59 | 1 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 1 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 19,096 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 | 39.1 mi | |
| 2008 | Equipment and vehicle use | 4,884 | 40.8 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,100 | 42.3 mi | |
| 2006 | Natural | 535 | 38.2 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 500 | 48.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 478 | 45.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 372 | 28.3 mi | |
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 310 | 45.8 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 310 | 40.4 mi | |
| 2007 | Arson/incendiarism | 258 | 39.6 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 255 | 49.6 mi | |
| 2007 | Arson/incendiarism | 221 | 10.6 mi |
Top 3 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 Poquoson. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Poquoson.
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.