In 2025, fire departments serving Terra Alta responded to 41 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $15K 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 66% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
245 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $2.5M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 51 | — | |
| 2022 | 48 | -5.9% | |
| 2023 | 80 | +66.7% | |
| 2024* | 25 | — | |
| 2025 | 41 | — |
* Well below Terra Alta'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 14 building fires Terra Alta departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 52 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 | 18 | 34.6% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 8 | 15.4% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 4 | 7.7% | |
| 4 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 3 | 5.8% | |
| 5 | Other | 2 | 3.8% | |
| 6 | Storage area, other | 2 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Wall surface: exterior | 2 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Entrance way, lobby | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 9 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 10 | Function area, other | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 10 | 19.2% |
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 Terra Alta mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 32 | 61.5% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 4 | 7.7% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 3 | 5.8% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 5.8% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 3.8% | |
| 6 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 10 | Incendiary device | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 2 | 3.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Terra Alta departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 93% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $8,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $5,000 | Fuel burner/boiler malfunction, fire confined | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $3,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $3,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Terra Alta sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 12,106 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Natural | 2,743 | 48.5 mi | |
| 2001 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,800 | 35.6 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,611 | 42.8 mi | |
| 2019 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1,289 | 44.7 mi | |
| 2005 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 755 | 48.5 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 546 | 45.9 mi | |
| 2008 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 480 | 49.1 mi | |
| 2001 | Smoking | 467 | 38.9 mi | |
| 2018 | Arson/incendiarism | 428 | 38.8 mi | |
| 2016 | Smoking | 394 | 21.7 mi | |
| 2017 | Recreation and ceremony | 197 | 38.2 mi | |
| 2009 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 150 | 39.0 mi |
Top 4 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 Terra Alta. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Terra Alta.
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.