In 2025, fire departments serving South Hill responded to 173 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $150K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Unauthorized burning lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 41% of all calls.
Sep peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
344 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $759K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 170 | — | |
| 2022* | 0 | — | |
| 2023* | 0 | — | |
| 2024* | 1 | — | |
| 2025 | 173 | — |
* Well below South Hill'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 10 building fires South Hill departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 79 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 | 20 | 25.3% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 11 | 13.9% | |
| 3 | Other | 6 | 7.6% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 6 | 7.6% | |
| 5 | Equipment or service area, other | 3 | 3.8% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 3 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 3 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Function area, other | 2 | 2.5% | |
| 9 | Storage area, other | 2 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 2.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 21 | 26.6% |
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 Hill mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 37 | 46.8% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 11 | 13.9% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 7 | 8.9% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 6 | 7.6% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 5.1% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 4 | 5.1% | |
| 7 | Arcing | 3 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 2.5% | |
| 9 | Incendiary device | 1 | 1.3% | |
| 10 | Heat from undetermined smoking material | 1 | 1.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 3 | 3.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by South Hill departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 89% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $100,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $50,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $30,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $20,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. South Hill sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 59,278 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 52,056 | 44.5 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,061 | 40.0 mi | |
| 1997 | Debris and open burning | 594 | 38.9 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 494 | 6.6 mi | |
| 2018 | Natural | 420 | 27.6 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 384 | 39.7 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 360 | 49.6 mi | |
| 2015 | Natural | 359 | 24.7 mi | |
| 2003 | Natural | 321 | 49.7 mi | |
| 2003 | Natural | 310 | 29.2 mi | |
| 2012 | Natural | 302 | 46.3 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 290 | 21.0 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 Washington cities with population within ±25% of South Hill. 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.