In 2025, fire departments serving Sutton responded to 42 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $12K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 67% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
339 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $545K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 78 | — | |
| 2022 | 69 | -11.5% | |
| 2023 | 73 | +5.8% | |
| 2024 | 77 | +5.5% | |
| 2025 | 42 | -45.5% |
For the 10 building fires Sutton departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 67 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 | 35 | 52.2% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 12 | 17.9% | |
| 3 | Vehicle area, other | 6 | 9.0% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 3.0% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 2 | 3.0% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 2 | 3.0% | |
| 7 | Wildland, woods | 2 | 3.0% | |
| 8 | Other | 1 | 1.5% | |
| 9 | Storage area, other | 1 | 1.5% | |
| 10 | Equipment or service area, other | 1 | 1.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 3 | 4.5% |
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 Sutton mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 53 | 79.1% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 4 | 6.0% | |
| 3 | Heat, spark from friction | 3 | 4.5% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 3.0% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 1.5% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 1.5% | |
| 7 | Match | 1 | 1.5% | |
| 8 | Lightning | 1 | 1.5% | |
| 9 | Other static discharge | 1 | 1.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Sutton departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $12,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $8,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Sutton sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 24,387 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 | 49.4 mi | |
| 1999 | Fireworks | 3,706 | 41.5 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,033 | 35.9 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,800 | 39.4 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,000 | 29.6 mi | |
| 2015 | Arson/incendiarism | 894 | 13.7 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 833 | 48.5 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 806 | 40.0 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 790 | 35.3 mi | |
| 1995 | Equipment and vehicle use | 723 | 47.5 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 625 | 24.7 mi | |
| 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 600 | 49.2 mi |
Top 5 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 Sutton. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Sutton.
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.