In 2025, fire departments serving Roanoke responded to 37 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $300K 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 59% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
160 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $1.3M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 26 | — | |
| 2022 | 25 | -3.8% | |
| 2023 | 35 | +40.0% | |
| 2024 | 37 | +5.7% | |
| 2025 | 37 | +0.0% |
For the 10 building fires Roanoke departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 46 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 | 18 | 39.1% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 5 | 10.9% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 5 | 10.9% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 4 | 8.7% | |
| 5 | Other | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 6 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 9 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 10 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 3 | 6.5% |
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 Roanoke mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 25 | 54.3% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 5 | 10.9% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 6.5% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 3 | 6.5% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 6.5% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Match | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Lightning | 1 | 2.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Roanoke departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $300,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $275,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $30,000 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Roanoke sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 5 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 135 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 20.0 mi | |
| 2002 | Recreation and ceremony | 35 | 33.9 mi | |
| 2005 | Recreation and ceremony | 20 | 26.6 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 20 | 35.1 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 10 | 19.6 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 | 46783 | 160 |
Six Indiana cities with population within ±25% of Roanoke. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Roanoke.
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.