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2025 County Report

Fires in Berkeley County, WV

In 2025, fire departments serving Berkeley County responded to 1,338 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $475K property loss.

23,919 residents FIPS 54003 42 cities · 5 fire depts
Total incidents
1,338
6,625 across 5 years
Building fires
179
158 wildland
Property loss
$5.0M
$3.8M structure · $1.2M contents
Casualties
1 / 9
1 civ deaths · 5 civ inj · 4 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Power line down lead by count. Top five categories make up about 58% of all calls.

1,338
Total Incidents
Power line down 200 14.9%
Vehicle accident, general cleanup 198 14.8%
Building fires 179 13.4%
Authorized controlled burning 101 7.5%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 97 7.2%
All other categories 563 42.1%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Berkeley County?

Mar peaks. Dec dips.

Jan 140
Feb 118
Mar 224
Apr 150
May 142
Jun 113
Jul 147
Aug 139
Sep 98
Oct 24
Nov 36
Dec 7
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Berkeley County

6,625 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 1,166
2022 1,490
2023 1,302
2024 1,329
2025 1,338
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 179 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
49%
82
Cause undetermined
22%
38
Intentional / arson
5%
8
Equipment / heat source failure
9%
15
Under investigation
8%
13
Act of nature (lightning)
7%
11
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $2.7M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Berkeley County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 71% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $475,000 hedgesville Building fires Major
2 $450,000 Bunker Hill Building fires Major
3 $400,000 Martinsburg Building fires Major
4 $300,000 Hedgesville Building fires Major
5 $300,000 Hedgesville Building fires Major
6 $250,000 Martinsburg Building fires Major
7 $155,000 Gerrardstown Building fires Significant
8 $150,000 Bunker Hill Building fires Significant
9 $100,000 Falling Waters Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle Significant
10 $100,000 Hedgesville Grass fire Significant
06 How Berkeley County compares

Berkeley County vs WV vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

55.94
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Berkeley County
55.94
WV avg
22.82
US avg
7.15
7.48
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Berkeley County
7.48
WV avg
4.85
US avg
0.82
41.8
Civilian fire deaths per million
Berkeley County
41.8
WV avg
41.5
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Berkeley County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 54003.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Berkeley County

5 departments report from this county.

HEDGESVILLE VFD
Hedgesville
FDID 02102 160 incidents 99 vol
Back Creek Valley VFD
Hedgesville
FDID 02105 95 incidents 35 vol
Bedington FDPTPD begin 110111
MARTINSBURG
FDID 02301 0 incidents
So Berkeley VFDPTPD v 010112
Inwood
FDID 02304 0 incidents
Baker Hts VFDPP 040120
MARTINSBURG
FDID 02306 0 incidents
09 Historical wildfires

Largest fires recorded in WV

Top 10 fire perimeters by acres burned (state-scoped fallback while we build out per-county polygons).

#NameYearAgencyAcres
1 GAULEY MTN 1991 NPS 12,324
2 Steep Valley 2023 NPS 2,182
3 Dry Hollow Fire 2019 USFS 1,288
4 ABRAHAM 2001 NPS 547
5 Castle 2018 USFS 427
6 Unnamed fire 1981 NPS 412
7 Highland 2024 NPS 231
8 North 2017 USFS 192
9 947 2023 USFS 165
10 873122 1987 NPS 162

About this data

County-level NFIRS aggregates for 2025, plus 5-year totals across 2021–2025. NFIRS is voluntary — about 23,000 of roughly 30,000 US fire departments report — so totals are a strong indicator, not a complete census. Wildfire risk score (0–100) and Expected Annual Loss come from FEMA's National Risk Index. Drought class is the most recent USDM classification (D0 = abnormally dry through D4 = exceptional drought). Historical fire perimeters are sourced from the NIFC InterAgency Fire Perimeter History.