In 2025, fire departments serving West Union responded to 50 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $50K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 68% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
223 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $1.6M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 34 | — | |
| 2022 | 35 | +2.9% | |
| 2023 | 66 | +88.6% | |
| 2024 | 38 | -42.4% | |
| 2025 | 50 | +31.6% |
For the 9 building fires West Union departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 53 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 | 37 | 69.8% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 3 | 5.7% | |
| 3 | Vacant structural area | 3 | 5.7% | |
| 4 | Other | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 5 | Entrance way, lobby | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 7 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 8 | Roof surface: exterior | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 9 | Vehicle area, other | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 10 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 3 | 5.7% |
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 West Union mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 44 | 83.0% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 2 | 3.8% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 5 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 7 | Cigarette lighter | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 8 | Lightning | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 9 | Other static discharge | 1 | 1.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by West Union departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 96% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $45,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $28,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $25,600 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $12,000 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $8,000 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. West Union sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,395 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 236 | 42.5 mi | |
| 2012 | Equipment and vehicle use | 147 | 9.1 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 130 | 28.8 mi | |
| 1995 | Equipment and vehicle use | 125 | 38.8 mi | |
| 2010 | Equipment and vehicle use | 121 | 27.8 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 120 | 6.8 mi | |
| 2018 | Arson/incendiarism | 109 | 23.2 mi | |
| 2001 | Smoking | 102 | 14.0 mi | |
| 2010 | Natural | 100 | 30.4 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 45.0 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 100 | 20.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 98 | 39.1 mi |
Top 6 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 West Union. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in West Union.
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.