In 2025, fire departments serving Stuart responded to 165 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $1.0M building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Aircraft standby lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 83% of all calls.
Feb peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
680 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $1.6M cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 114 | — | |
| 2022 | 104 | -8.8% | |
| 2023 | 138 | +32.7% | |
| 2024 | 159 | +15.2% | |
| 2025 | 165 | +3.8% |
For the 34 building fires Stuart departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 25 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 | 11 | 44.0% | |
| 2 | Other | 3 | 12.0% | |
| 3 | Vehicle area, other | 3 | 12.0% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 8.0% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 8.0% | |
| 6 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 7 | Outside area, other | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 9 | Wildland, woods | 1 | 4.0% |
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 Stuart mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 12 | 48.0% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 3 | 12.0% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 12.0% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 6 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Cigarette | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 9 | Lightning | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 10 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 1 | 4.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Stuart departments in 2025. These 5 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,000,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $1,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $25 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Stuart sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 14,073 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Natural | 3,696 | 6.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,349 | 48.3 mi | |
| 2002 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,146 | 41.2 mi | |
| 2006 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 850 | 29.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 737 | 33.9 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 730 | 35.2 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 675 | 23.9 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 484 | 37.3 mi | |
| 2009 | Debris and open burning | 457 | 33.1 mi | |
| 1999 | Natural | 400 | 47.0 mi | |
| 2006 | Natural | 380 | 46.2 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 363 | 19.5 mi |
Top 7 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 Stuart. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Stuart.
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.