In 2025, fire departments serving Ruckersville responded to 44 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $30K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 59% of all calls.
Oct peaks. Apr dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
269 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $1.4M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 56 | — | |
| 2022 | 70 | +25.0% | |
| 2023 | 43 | -38.6% | |
| 2024 | 56 | +30.2% | |
| 2025 | 44 | -21.4% |
For the 6 building fires Ruckersville departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 85 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 | 27.1% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 13 | 15.3% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 11 | 12.9% | |
| 4 | Other | 5 | 5.9% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 5 | 5.9% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 5 | 5.9% | |
| 7 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Structural area, other | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 15 | 17.6% |
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 Ruckersville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 43 | 50.6% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 9 | 10.6% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 7 | 8.2% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 3.5% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 3.5% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 3 | 3.5% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 3.5% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 3.5% | |
| 9 | Multiple heat sources including multiple ignitions | 2 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 1.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 8 | 9.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Ruckersville departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $30,300 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $4,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Ruckersville sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 72,981 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Recreation and ceremony | 16,021 | 26.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 10,326 | 15.8 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 6,131 | 21.7 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,505 | 23.5 mi | |
| 2002 | Arson/incendiarism | 4,200 | 21.5 mi | |
| 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,717 | 24.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 2,564 | 40.3 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 2,206 | 20.6 mi | |
| 2012 | Natural | 2,138 | 32.4 mi | |
| 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 2,057 | 49.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Other causes | 1,989 | 41.0 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,935 | 32.2 mi |
Top 4 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 Ruckersville. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
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.