In 2025, fire departments serving Warsaw responded to 50 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $300K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Aircraft standby lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 68% of all calls.
Nov peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
162 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $472K cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 15 | — | |
| 2022 | 36 | — | |
| 2023 | 28 | -22.2% | |
| 2024 | 33 | +17.9% | |
| 2025 | 50 | +51.5% |
* Well below Warsaw'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 Warsaw departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 7 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 | 4 | 57.1% | |
| 2 | Dining room, cafeteria bar area, beverage service | 1 | 14.3% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 14.3% | |
| 4 | Storage: supplies or tools; dead storage | 1 | 14.3% |
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 Warsaw mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 5 | 71.4% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 1 | 14.3% | |
| 3 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 14.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Warsaw departments in 2025. These 7 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $300,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $75,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $1,500 | Grass fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $100 | Trash or rubbish fire, contained | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Warsaw sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 15,041 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,596 | 48.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,367 | 48.2 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,040 | 47.6 mi | |
| 2008 | Debris and open burning | 920 | 48.9 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 850 | 46.1 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 750 | 48.8 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 709 | 48.9 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 651 | 47.4 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 630 | 47.8 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 615 | 49.2 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 530 | 46.6 mi | |
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 483 | 47.1 mi |
Top 2 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 Warsaw. 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.