In 2025, fire departments serving Wytheville responded to 171 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $250K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 45% of all calls.
Mar peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
686 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $2.0M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 86 | — | |
| 2022 | 129 | +50.0% | |
| 2023 | 145 | +12.4% | |
| 2024 | 155 | +6.9% | |
| 2025 | 171 | +10.3% |
For the 11 building fires Wytheville departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 160 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 | 36 | 22.5% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 28 | 17.5% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 8 | 5.0% | |
| 4 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 8 | 5.0% | |
| 5 | Other | 7 | 4.4% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 7 | 4.4% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 6 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 5 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Vehicle area, other | 5 | 3.1% | |
| 10 | Wildland, woods | 5 | 3.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 45 | 28.1% |
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 Wytheville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 53 | 33.1% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 26 | 16.2% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 13 | 8.1% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 13 | 8.1% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 11 | 6.9% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 7 | 4.4% | |
| 7 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 6 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 6 | 3.8% | |
| 9 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 5 | 3.1% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 4 | 2.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 16 | 10.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Wytheville departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 78% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $250,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $154,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $154,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $100,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $70,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $60,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $60,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Wytheville sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 30,392 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 5,832 | 43.1 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 4,850 | 44.8 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,531 | 49.1 mi | |
| 2013 | Smoking | 1,509 | 11.3 mi | |
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,485 | 43.8 mi | |
| 2001 | Fireworks | 1,098 | 42.6 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,094 | 38.3 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,019 | 45.5 mi | |
| 2014 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 992 | 35.1 mi | |
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 880 | 42.8 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 854 | 45.7 mi | |
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 780 | 44.8 mi |
Top 3 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 Wytheville. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Wytheville.
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.