In 2025, fire departments serving Williamsburg responded to 16 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $40K 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 69% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Mar dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
42 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $150K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 11 | — | |
| 2022* | 5 | — | |
| 2023 | 6 | — | |
| 2024* | 4 | — | |
| 2025 | 16 | — |
* 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 4 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 13 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 | 6 | 46.2% | |
| 2 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 3 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 5 | Storage room, area, tank, or bin | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 6 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 7 | Outside area, other | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 8 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 1 | 7.7% |
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 Williamsburg mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 10 | 76.9% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 4 | Fireworks | 1 | 7.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Williamsburg departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $40,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $10,000 | Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle | 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. 559,988 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Natural | 234,000 | 33.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Natural | 42,102 | 47.0 mi | |
| 2003 | Natural | 34,941 | 41.5 mi | |
| 1995 | Natural | 29,000 | 32.5 mi | |
| 1994 | Natural | 22,200 | 41.6 mi | |
| 2009 | Natural | 22,000 | 44.4 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 20,501 | 48.1 mi | |
| 2015 | Natural | 17,843 | 45.2 mi | |
| 1993 | Natural | 14,700 | 47.3 mi | |
| 2020 | Natural | 14,624 | 32.5 mi | |
| 2006 | Natural | 12,582 | 49.6 mi | |
| 1993 | Natural | 11,856 | 39.8 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 New Mexico cities with population within ±25% of Williamsburg. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Williamsburg.
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.