In 2025, fire departments serving Romney responded to 47 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $175K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 68% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
387 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $3.9M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 85 | — | |
| 2022 | 113 | +32.9% | |
| 2023 | 81 | -28.3% | |
| 2024 | 61 | -24.7% | |
| 2025 | 47 | -23.0% |
For the 10 building fires Romney 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 | Undetermined | 38 | 42.2% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 10 | 11.1% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 5 | 5.6% | |
| 4 | Wildland, woods | 5 | 5.6% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 4 | 4.4% | |
| 6 | Outside area, other | 4 | 4.4% | |
| 7 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 3 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Duct: hvac, cable, exhaust, heating, or AC | 2 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 2 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 15 | 16.7% |
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 Romney mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 55 | 61.1% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 9 | 10.0% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 8 | 8.9% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 5 | 5.6% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 5 | 5.6% | |
| 6 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 4 | 4.4% | |
| 7 | Lightning | 3 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 1.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Romney departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $175,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $25,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Romney sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 24,044 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Natural | 2,743 | 35.8 mi | |
| 2012 | Natural | 2,138 | 49.3 mi | |
| 2011 | Other causes | 1,989 | 47.9 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,935 | 47.5 mi | |
| 2001 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,800 | 36.0 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,611 | 44.6 mi | |
| 2019 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1,289 | 46.0 mi | |
| 2012 | Natural | 1,200 | 39.3 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,000 | 49.8 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 888 | 35.1 mi | |
| 2012 | Recreation and ceremony | 755 | 29.3 mi | |
| 2005 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 755 | 34.3 mi |
Top 7 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 Romney. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Romney.
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.