In 2025, fire departments serving Spencer responded to 75 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $20K 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 65% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
367 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $718K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 61 | — | |
| 2022 | 82 | +34.4% | |
| 2023 | 70 | -14.6% | |
| 2024 | 79 | +12.9% | |
| 2025 | 75 | -5.1% |
For the 6 building fires Spencer departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 125 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 | 81 | 64.8% | |
| 2 | Other | 14 | 11.2% | |
| 3 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 6 | 4.8% | |
| 4 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 3 | 2.4% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 2.4% | |
| 6 | Wildland, woods | 3 | 2.4% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 1.6% | |
| 8 | Wall assembly | 2 | 1.6% | |
| 9 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 1.6% | |
| 10 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 2 | 1.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 7 | 5.6% |
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 Spencer mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 77 | 61.6% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 34 | 27.2% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 2.4% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 1.6% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 1.6% | |
| 6 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 2 | 1.6% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 0.8% | |
| 8 | Arcing | 1 | 0.8% | |
| 9 | Molten, hot material | 1 | 0.8% | |
| 10 | Cigarette | 1 | 0.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 1 | 0.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Spencer departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $20,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Spencer sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 28,664 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Fireworks | 4,637 | 46.1 mi | |
| 1999 | Fireworks | 3,706 | 45.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,033 | 32.1 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,800 | 45.3 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 1,550 | 46.7 mi | |
| 2001 | Fireworks | 1,383 | 44.6 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,021 | 48.4 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,000 | 16.1 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 900 | 46.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Arson/incendiarism | 894 | 43.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 833 | 48.0 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 806 | 33.2 mi |
Top 6 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 Spencer. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Spencer.
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.