In 2025, fire departments serving Winchester responded to 623 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $2.0M 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 42% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
2,927 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $9.0M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 550 | — | |
| 2022 | 587 | +6.7% | |
| 2023 | 587 | +0.0% | |
| 2024 | 580 | -1.2% | |
| 2025 | 623 | +7.4% |
For the 84 building fires Winchester departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 545 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 | 119 | 21.8% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 74 | 13.6% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 55 | 10.1% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 51 | 9.4% | |
| 5 | Vehicle area, other | 17 | 3.1% | |
| 6 | Exterior, exposed surface | 14 | 2.6% | |
| 7 | Other | 12 | 2.2% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 12 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 12 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 12 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 167 | 30.6% |
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 Winchester mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 200 | 36.7% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 69 | 12.7% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 49 | 9.0% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 39 | 7.2% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 34 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 27 | 5.0% | |
| 7 | Cigarette | 19 | 3.5% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 12 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Cigarette lighter | 12 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 11 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 73 | 13.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Winchester departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 82% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $2,000,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $251,300 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $249,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $212,700 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $101,000 | Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $97,625 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Winchester sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
28 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 | 1 | |
| 10-19 | 2 | |
| 20-29 | 6 | |
| 30-39 | 7 | |
| 40-49 | 8 | |
| 50-59 | 3 | |
| 60-69 | 1 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 41,705 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Recreation and ceremony | 16,021 | 39.4 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 6,131 | 44.3 mi | |
| 2012 | Natural | 2,138 | 34.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Other causes | 1,989 | 25.3 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,935 | 39.9 mi | |
| 2012 | Natural | 1,200 | 22.0 mi | |
| 2000 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,113 | 39.8 mi | |
| 1995 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,070 | 49.0 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,000 | 38.7 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 850 | 47.0 mi | |
| 2001 | Equipment and vehicle use | 850 | 47.7 mi | |
| 2008 | Debris and open burning | 800 | 47.5 mi |
Top 8 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 Winchester. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
5 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Winchester.
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.