In 2025, fire departments serving Williamsburg responded to 42 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $500 building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Hazardous condition, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 86% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
286 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $815K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 31 | — | |
| 2022* | 33 | — | |
| 2023 | 106 | — | |
| 2024 | 74 | -30.2% | |
| 2025 | 42 | -43.2% |
* Well below Williamsburg'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 0 building fires Williamsburg departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 32 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 | Outside area, other | 8 | 25.0% | |
| 2 | Heating room or area, water heater area | 4 | 12.5% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 4 | 12.5% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Equipment or service area, other | 2 | 6.2% | |
| 7 | Other | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 8 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Service facilities, other | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 10 | Duct: hvac, cable, exhaust, heating, or AC | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 4 | 12.5% |
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 Williamsburg mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 8 | 25.0% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 5 | 15.6% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 5 | 15.6% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 2 | 6.2% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Cigarette | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 10 | Candle | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 5 | 15.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Williamsburg departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $500 | Water vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Williamsburg sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,558 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,300 | 47.0 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 321 | 15.8 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 272 | 30.6 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 11.6 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 175 | 45.4 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 130 | 28.7 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 120 | 29.8 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 110 | 45.4 mi | |
| 1993 | Arson/incendiarism | 100 | 49.3 mi | |
| 2011 | Recreation and ceremony | 79 | 46.0 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 75 | 46.4 mi | |
| 2020 | Natural | 55 | 12.4 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 Massachusetts cities with population within ±25% of Williamsburg. 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.