In 2025, fire departments serving South Boston responded to 130 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $350K building blaze. 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 53% of all calls.
Mar peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
583 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $8.5M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 108 | — | |
| 2022 | 132 | +22.2% | |
| 2023 | 96 | -27.3% | |
| 2024 | 117 | +21.9% | |
| 2025 | 130 | +11.1% |
For the 23 building fires South Boston departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 149 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 | 80 | 53.7% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 15 | 10.1% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 6 | 4.0% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 5 | 3.4% | |
| 5 | Wildland, woods | 5 | 3.4% | |
| 6 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 4 | 2.7% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 2.0% | |
| 8 | Storage area, other | 3 | 2.0% | |
| 9 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 3 | 2.0% | |
| 10 | Other | 2 | 1.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 23 | 15.4% |
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 South Boston mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 112 | 75.2% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 8 | 5.4% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 5 | 3.4% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 4 | 2.7% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 4 | 2.7% | |
| 6 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 3 | 2.0% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 2 | 1.3% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 1.3% | |
| 9 | Conducted heat from another fire | 2 | 1.3% | |
| 10 | Arcing | 1 | 0.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 6 | 4.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by South Boston departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 95% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $350,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $100,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $80,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $65,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $10,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $5,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. South Boston sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 10,119 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,030 | 48.5 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,778 | 46.3 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,036 | 39.3 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 865 | 48.2 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 456 | 21.4 mi | |
| 1999 | Natural | 400 | 41.3 mi | |
| 2006 | Natural | 380 | 41.4 mi | |
| 2005 | Natural | 350 | 44.4 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 274 | 49.6 mi | |
| 2001 | Debris and open burning | 260 | 43.0 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 257 | 49.1 mi | |
| 2001 | Debris and open burning | 254 | 48.6 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 Virginia cities with population within ±25% of South Boston. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in South Boston.
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.