In 2025, fire departments serving Shawsville responded to 20 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $300K 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 90% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
49 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $471K cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 10 | — | |
| 2022 | 6 | -40.0% | |
| 2023 | 7 | +16.7% | |
| 2024 | 6 | -14.3% | |
| 2025 | 20 | +233.3% |
For the 6 building fires Shawsville departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 8 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 25.0% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 2 | 25.0% | |
| 3 | Structural area, other | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 6 | Wildland, woods | 1 | 12.5% |
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 Shawsville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 4 | 50.0% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 2 | 25.0% | |
| 3 | Multiple heat sources including multiple ignitions | 2 | 25.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Shawsville 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 | $80,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $50,000 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $30,000 | Authorized controlled burning | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Shawsville sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 50,924 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 | 40.7 mi | |
| 2012 | Fireworks | 7,351 | 33.4 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,990 | 20.0 mi | |
| 2006 | Natural | 3,696 | 31.2 mi | |
| 2008 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 2,738 | 19.5 mi | |
| 1995 | Smoking | 2,151 | 15.9 mi | |
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,678 | 32.6 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,676 | 46.1 mi | |
| 2008 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,550 | 31.4 mi | |
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,354 | 23.0 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,349 | 13.9 mi | |
| 1999 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,285 | 39.3 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 Shawsville. 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.