In 2025, fire departments serving Star City responded to 10 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 100% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
66 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $350 cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 20 | — | |
| 2022 | 13 | -35.0% | |
| 2023 | 8 | -38.5% | |
| 2024 | 15 | +87.5% | |
| 2025 | 10 | -33.3% |
For the 3 building fires Star City departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 16 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 | Cooking area, kitchen | 4 | 25.0% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 4 | 25.0% | |
| 3 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 2 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 2 | 12.5% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 2 | 12.5% | |
| 6 | Function area, other | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 7 | Wildland, woods | 1 | 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 Star City mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 7 | 43.8% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 12.5% | |
| 3 | Cigarette lighter | 2 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 7 | Cigarette | 1 | 6.2% | |
| 8 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 1 | 6.2% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Star City sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,630 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Smoking | 394 | 16.2 mi | |
| 2002 | Recreation and ceremony | 117 | 49.9 mi | |
| 2001 | Smoking | 102 | 35.0 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 76 | 30.8 mi | |
| 1999 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 71 | 34.5 mi | |
| 1999 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 70 | 43.8 mi | |
| 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 62 | 18.7 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 60 | 31.7 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 60 | 26.8 mi | |
| 1999 | Fireworks | 50 | 25.3 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 49 | 48.2 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 46 | 48.2 mi |
Top 2 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 Star City. 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.