In 2025, fire departments serving Tappahannock responded to 34 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 65% of all calls.
Feb peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
133 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $980K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 1 | — | |
| 2022 | 21 | — | |
| 2023 | 45 | +114.3% | |
| 2024 | 32 | -28.9% | |
| 2025 | 34 | +6.2% |
* Well below Tappahannock'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 6 building fires Tappahannock departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 33 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 | Other | 9 | 27.3% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 7 | 21.2% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 9.1% | |
| 4 | Equipment or service area, other | 2 | 6.1% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 6.1% | |
| 6 | Outside area, other | 2 | 6.1% | |
| 7 | Closet | 1 | 3.0% | |
| 8 | Service facilities, other | 1 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Display window | 1 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Structural area, other | 1 | 3.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 4 | 12.1% |
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 Tappahannock mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 11 | 33.3% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 6 | 18.2% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 5 | 15.2% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 9.1% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 6.1% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 6.1% | |
| 7 | Arcing | 1 | 3.0% | |
| 8 | Candle | 1 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 1 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Conducted heat from another fire | 1 | 3.0% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Tappahannock sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 5,199 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 478 | 15.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 372 | 34.2 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 370 | 49.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 344 | 44.5 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 310 | 36.4 mi | |
| 2018 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 302 | 29.6 mi | |
| 2015 | Arson/incendiarism | 275 | 49.4 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 255 | 11.6 mi | |
| 1997 | Debris and open burning | 225 | 7.7 mi | |
| 2018 | Smoking | 223 | 48.2 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 208 | 49.8 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 197 | 49.0 mi |
Top 3 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 Tappahannock. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
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.