In 2025, fire departments serving Suffolk responded to 471 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $582K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 49% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Apr dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
2,539 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $11.5M cumulative property loss. 3 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 473 | — | |
| 2022 | 611 | +29.2% | |
| 2023 | 499 | -18.3% | |
| 2024 | 485 | -2.8% | |
| 2025 | 471 | -2.9% |
For the 41 building fires Suffolk departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 522 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 | 141 | 27.0% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 69 | 13.2% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 51 | 9.8% | |
| 4 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 30 | 5.7% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 18 | 3.4% | |
| 6 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 17 | 3.3% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 13 | 2.5% | |
| 8 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 13 | 2.5% | |
| 9 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 13 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 12 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 145 | 27.8% |
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 Suffolk mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 193 | 37.0% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 67 | 12.8% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 46 | 8.8% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 44 | 8.4% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 26 | 5.0% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 22 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 20 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 17 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Heat, spark from friction | 16 | 3.1% | |
| 10 | Radiated heat from another fire | 14 | 2.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 57 | 10.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Suffolk departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 73% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $581,700 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $581,700 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $375,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 4 | $350,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Major | Investigated |
| 5 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 6 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 7 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 8 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Suffolk sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
33 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 2 | |
| 10-19 | 2 | |
| 20-29 | 4 | |
| 30-39 | 11 | |
| 40-49 | 1 | |
| 50-59 | 5 | |
| 60-69 | 5 | |
| 70-79 | 3 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 20,091 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Natural | 6,574 | 11.2 mi | |
| 2008 | Equipment and vehicle use | 4,884 | 13.1 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,100 | 20.8 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 700 | 41.1 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 681 | 43.8 mi | |
| 2006 | Natural | 535 | 10.5 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 500 | 32.0 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 430 | 22.6 mi | |
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 310 | 33.5 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 275 | 45.4 mi | |
| 2007 | Arson/incendiarism | 258 | 36.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 243 | 43.9 mi |
Top 10 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 Suffolk. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
5 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Suffolk.
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.