In 2025, fire departments serving South Charleston responded to 14 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Incomplete 2025 data. South Charleston's departments reported 14 incidents to NFIRS for 2025, against about 41 in a typical year, so 2025 figures on this page undercount. The 2021–2025 totals are the better guide.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 64% of all calls.
Apr peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
205 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $893K cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 61 | — | |
| 2022 | 59 | -3.3% | |
| 2023 | 49 | -16.9% | |
| 2024* | 22 | — | |
| 2025* | 14 | — |
* Well below South Charleston'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 2 building fires South Charleston departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 73 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 | 15 | 20.5% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 9 | 12.3% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 6 | 8.2% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 5 | 6.8% | |
| 5 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 5 | 6.8% | |
| 6 | Wall surface: exterior | 4 | 5.5% | |
| 7 | Other | 3 | 4.1% | |
| 8 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Storage area, other | 2 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Storage room, area, tank, or bin | 2 | 2.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 20 | 27.4% |
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 Charleston mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 18 | 24.7% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 15 | 20.5% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 14 | 19.2% | |
| 4 | Match | 5 | 6.8% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 4.1% | |
| 6 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 3 | 4.1% | |
| 7 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 3 | 4.1% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 2 | 2.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 6 | 8.2% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. South Charleston sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 16 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 392 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 125 | 47.4 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 50 | 45.1 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 25 | 46.3 mi | |
| 2002 | Debris and open burning | 25 | 22.7 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 24 | 48.6 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 20 | 48.5 mi | |
| 2012 | Recreation and ceremony | 18 | 42.1 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 15 | 9.3 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 15 | 39.7 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 15 | 45.3 mi | |
| 2007 | Debris and open burning | 10 | 43.1 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 10 | 43.0 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 Ohio cities with population within ±25% of South Charleston. 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.