In 2025, fire departments serving Sophia responded to 34 fire and hazmat incidents . 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 56% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
168 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 35 | — | |
| 2022 | 29 | -17.1% | |
| 2023 | 34 | +17.2% | |
| 2024 | 36 | +5.9% | |
| 2025 | 34 | -5.6% |
For the 4 building fires Sophia departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 32 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 | 12 | 37.5% | |
| 2 | Vehicle area, other | 7 | 21.9% | |
| 3 | Other | 3 | 9.4% | |
| 4 | Wildland, woods | 2 | 6.2% | |
| 5 | Egress/exit, other | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 6 | Function area, other | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 8 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 10 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 2 | 6.2% |
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 Sophia mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 26 | 81.2% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 5 | Explosive, fireworks, other | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 6 | Cigarette lighter | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 7 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 1 | 3.1% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Sophia sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 74,252 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 5,832 | 38.0 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 4,850 | 40.4 mi | |
| 1999 | Fireworks | 4,637 | 29.5 mi | |
| 1994 | Fireworks | 4,552 | 47.7 mi | |
| 1999 | Fireworks | 3,706 | 32.0 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,484 | 16.1 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,475 | 47.9 mi | |
| 1999 | Fireworks | 3,358 | 17.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,328 | 41.0 mi | |
| 2001 | Fireworks | 3,186 | 26.1 mi | |
| 1999 | Fireworks | 3,171 | 26.7 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,082 | 37.1 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 West Virginia cities with population within ±25% of Sophia. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Sophia.
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.