In 2025, fire departments serving Summersville responded to 79 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $3K 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 68% of all calls.
May peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
426 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $27K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 90 | — | |
| 2022 | 75 | -16.7% | |
| 2023 | 99 | +32.0% | |
| 2024 | 83 | -16.2% | |
| 2025 | 79 | -4.8% |
For the 9 building fires Summersville departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 105 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 | 28 | 26.7% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 20 | 19.0% | |
| 3 | Wildland, woods | 9 | 8.6% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 7 | 6.7% | |
| 5 | Wall surface: exterior | 5 | 4.8% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 5 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Other | 3 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 3 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 3 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 20 | 19.0% |
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 Summersville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 44 | 41.9% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 12 | 11.4% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 10 | 9.5% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 8 | 7.6% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 7 | 6.7% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 6 | 5.7% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 3 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Cigarette | 3 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Heat source: other | 2 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 7 | 6.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Summersville departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $2,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Summersville sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 47,035 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 | 28.2 mi | |
| 1999 | Fireworks | 3,706 | 18.0 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,484 | 48.0 mi | |
| 1999 | Fireworks | 3,358 | 37.5 mi | |
| 1999 | Fireworks | 3,171 | 48.6 mi | |
| 2001 | Fireworks | 2,063 | 49.0 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,033 | 21.8 mi | |
| 2001 | Fireworks | 1,940 | 48.1 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,800 | 15.5 mi | |
| 1999 | Fireworks | 1,666 | 41.5 mi | |
| 2005 | Fireworks | 1,641 | 49.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Fireworks | 1,596 | 48.9 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 Summersville. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Summersville.
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.