In 2025, fire departments serving Virginia responded to 103 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K 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 63% of all calls.
May peaks. Mar dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
544 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $1.2M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 110 | — | |
| 2022 | 122 | +10.9% | |
| 2023 | 108 | -11.5% | |
| 2024 | 101 | -6.5% | |
| 2025 | 103 | +2.0% |
For the 29 building fires Virginia departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 90 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 | 19 | 21.1% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 10 | 11.1% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 8 | 8.9% | |
| 4 | Egress/exit, other | 4 | 4.4% | |
| 5 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 4 | 4.4% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 4 | 4.4% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 4 | 4.4% | |
| 8 | Exterior stairway, ramp, or fire escape | 3 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Function area, other | 3 | 3.3% | |
| 10 | Wall surface: exterior | 3 | 3.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 28 | 31.1% |
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 Virginia mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 30 | 33.3% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 16 | 17.8% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 10 | 11.1% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 7 | 7.8% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 4 | 4.4% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 4 | 4.4% | |
| 7 | Cigarette | 4 | 4.4% | |
| 8 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 3 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Incendiary device | 2 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 8 | 8.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Virginia departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 94% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $40,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $20,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Virginia sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
7 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 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 0 | |
| 30-39 | 3 | |
| 40-49 | 4 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 18,502 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 5,200 | 15.1 mi | |
| 1995 | Natural | 3,048 | 48.3 mi | |
| 1992 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,200 | 11.5 mi | |
| 2016 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 973 | 19.4 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 953 | 32.5 mi | |
| 1998 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 950 | 18.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 936 | 32.9 mi | |
| 2003 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 732 | 15.0 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 517 | 34.6 mi | |
| 2010 | Equipment and vehicle use | 340 | 21.0 mi | |
| 2010 | Equipment and vehicle use | 270 | 27.4 mi | |
| 1992 | Debris and open burning | 250 | 43.6 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 Minnesota cities with population within ±25% of Virginia. 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.