In 2025, fire departments serving Staunton responded to 197 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $300K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Incomplete 2025 data. Staunton's departments reported 197 incidents to NFIRS for 2025, against about 392 in a typical year, so 2025 figures on this page undercount. The 2021–2025 totals are the better guide.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 43% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Jul dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,959 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $6.1M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 376 | — | |
| 2022 | 518 | +37.8% | |
| 2023 | 349 | -32.6% | |
| 2024 | 519 | +48.7% | |
| 2025* | 197 | — |
* Well below Staunton'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 22 building fires Staunton departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 278 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 | 63 | 22.7% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 42 | 15.1% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 18 | 6.5% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 16 | 5.8% | |
| 5 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 12 | 4.3% | |
| 6 | Outside area, other | 11 | 4.0% | |
| 7 | Wildland, woods | 10 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 8 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 8 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Vehicle area, other | 8 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 82 | 29.5% |
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 Staunton mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 114 | 41.0% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 27 | 9.7% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 26 | 9.4% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 19 | 6.8% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 12 | 4.3% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 9 | 3.2% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 9 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Heat, spark from friction | 9 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Cigarette | 9 | 3.2% | |
| 10 | Cigarette lighter | 8 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 36 | 12.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Staunton departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 99% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $300,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $300,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $10,000 | Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $8,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $6,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $5,000 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $2,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Staunton sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 89,276 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 15,454 | 36.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 11,229 | 30.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 10,326 | 24.9 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 6,131 | 48.4 mi | |
| 2002 | Arson/incendiarism | 4,200 | 36.9 mi | |
| 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,717 | 32.7 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 3,200 | 30.2 mi | |
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,058 | 26.5 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 2,935 | 45.8 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,871 | 41.1 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 2,743 | 49.1 mi | |
| 2011 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 2,564 | 23.8 mi |
Top 8 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 Staunton. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Staunton.
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.