In 2025, fire departments serving Rupert responded to 32 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 78% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
138 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $451K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 33 | — | |
| 2022 | 22 | -33.3% | |
| 2023 | 22 | +0.0% | |
| 2024 | 29 | +31.8% | |
| 2025 | 32 | +10.3% |
For the 6 building fires Rupert departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 35 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 | 10 | 28.6% | |
| 2 | Other | 5 | 14.3% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 4 | 11.4% | |
| 4 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 3 | 8.6% | |
| 5 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 2 | 5.7% | |
| 6 | Wall surface: exterior | 2 | 5.7% | |
| 7 | Corridor, mall | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Closet | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Storage: supplies or tools; dead storage | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 5 | 14.3% |
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 Rupert mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 20 | 57.1% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 4 | 11.4% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 4 | 11.4% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 3 | 8.6% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 5.7% | |
| 6 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 7 | Backfire from internal combustion engine | 1 | 2.9% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Rupert sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 63,820 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 11,381 | 30.2 mi | |
| 2012 | Fireworks | 7,351 | 41.2 mi | |
| 1999 | Fireworks | 4,637 | 36.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Fireworks | 3,706 | 28.0 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,484 | 45.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Fireworks | 3,358 | 37.6 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,859 | 44.0 mi | |
| 2008 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 2,738 | 48.2 mi | |
| 1995 | Smoking | 2,151 | 48.7 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,033 | 39.8 mi | |
| 2001 | Fireworks | 1,940 | 49.8 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,800 | 26.6 mi |
Top 5 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 Rupert. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Rupert.
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.