In 2025, fire departments serving Ravenswood responded to 53 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $200K 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 75% of all calls.
Feb peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
367 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $518K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 67 | — | |
| 2022 | 78 | +16.4% | |
| 2023 | 74 | -5.1% | |
| 2024 | 95 | +28.4% | |
| 2025 | 53 | -44.2% |
For the 18 building fires Ravenswood departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 137 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 | 25 | 18.2% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 24 | 17.5% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 11 | 8.0% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 9 | 6.6% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 6 | 4.4% | |
| 6 | Other | 5 | 3.6% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 5 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 4 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Structural area, other | 4 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 4 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 40 | 29.2% |
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 Ravenswood mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 66 | 48.2% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 15 | 10.9% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 12 | 8.8% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 11 | 8.0% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 5 | 3.6% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 5 | 3.6% | |
| 7 | Candle | 5 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 1.5% | |
| 10 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 2 | 1.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 11 | 8.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Ravenswood departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $200,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $120,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $40,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $8,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $5,000 | Special outside fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $3,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $1,500 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $200 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Ravenswood sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 8,110 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,000 | 37.7 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 790 | 49.1 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 481 | 46.1 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 446 | 47.6 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 435 | 49.5 mi | |
| 1995 | Equipment and vehicle use | 429 | 45.8 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 343 | 48.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 330 | 48.3 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 310 | 39.9 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 300 | 47.2 mi | |
| 2013 | Arson/incendiarism | 269 | 47.4 mi | |
| 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 259 | 44.4 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 Ravenswood. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Ravenswood.
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.