In 2025, fire departments serving Saluda responded to 29 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $200 building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Authorized controlled burning lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 97% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
97 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $205K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 6 | — | |
| 2022 | 14 | — | |
| 2023 | 21 | +50.0% | |
| 2024 | 27 | +28.6% | |
| 2025 | 29 | +7.4% |
* Well below Saluda's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.
For the 0 building fires Saluda departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 20 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 | Wildland, woods | 4 | 20.0% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 10.0% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 2 | 10.0% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 2 | 10.0% | |
| 5 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 5.0% | |
| 6 | Function area, other | 1 | 5.0% | |
| 7 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 5.0% | |
| 8 | Dining room, cafeteria bar area, beverage service | 1 | 5.0% | |
| 9 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 5.0% | |
| 10 | Closet | 1 | 5.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 4 | 20.0% |
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 Saluda mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 8 | 40.0% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 10.0% | |
| 3 | Lightning | 2 | 10.0% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 1 | 5.0% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 5.0% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 1 | 5.0% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 5.0% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 5.0% | |
| 9 | Explosive, fireworks, other | 1 | 5.0% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 5.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 1 | 5.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Saluda departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $200 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Saluda sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 4,693 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 478 | 10.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 372 | 12.3 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 310 | 26.7 mi | |
| 2018 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 302 | 48.0 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 255 | 14.7 mi | |
| 1997 | Debris and open burning | 225 | 31.7 mi | |
| 2007 | Arson/incendiarism | 221 | 24.7 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 213 | 25.5 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 208 | 23.7 mi | |
| 2007 | Natural | 162 | 39.2 mi | |
| 2008 | Equipment and vehicle use | 157 | 36.1 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 154 | 45.4 mi |
Top 3 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 Saluda. 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.