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2025 County Report

Fires in Boone County, WV

In 2025, fire departments serving Boone County responded to 406 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $80K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as High.

5,000 residents FIPS 54005 80 cities · 8 fire depts
Total incidents
406
2,079 across 5 years
Building fires
113
64 wildland
Property loss
$417K
$265K structure · $152K contents
Casualties
2 / 0
2 civ deaths · 0 civ inj · 0 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Building fires lead by count. Top five categories make up about 62% of all calls.

406
Total Incidents
Building fires 113 27.8%
Power line down 47 11.6%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 44 10.8%
Vehicle accident, general cleanup 28 6.9%
Fires in structures other than in a building 18 4.4%
All other categories 156 38.4%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Boone County?

Mar peaks. Dec dips.

Jan 58
Feb 41
Mar 90
Apr 31
May 27
Jun 21
Jul 68
Aug 46
Sep 6
Oct 8
Nov 7
Dec 3
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Boone County

2,079 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 383
2022 407
2023 437
2024 446
2025 406
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 113 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
23%
34
Cause undetermined
19%
28
Intentional / arson
10%
15
Equipment / heat source failure
12%
18
Under investigation
33%
49
Act of nature (lightning)
3%
3
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $263K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Boone County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 99% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $80,000 BIM Fire in mobile prop. used as a fixed struc., other Significant
2 $67,600 GORDON Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence Significant
3 $50,000 CAZY Fire in mobile prop. used as a fixed struc., other Significant
4 $33,900 MADISON Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence Significant
5 $11,400 MADISON Fire in mobile prop. used as a fixed struc., other Significant
6 $10,000 danville Fire in portable building, fixed location Significant
7 $5,000 Madison Self-propelled motor home or recreational vehicle Significant
8 $2,000 SYLVESTER Building fires Significant
9 $2,000 WHITESVILLE Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle Significant
10 $1,000 WHITESVILLE Building fires Significant
06 How Boone County compares

Boone County vs WV vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

81.2
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Boone County
81.2
WV avg
22.82
US avg
7.15
22.6
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Boone County
22.6
WV avg
4.85
US avg
0.82
400
Civilian fire deaths per million
Boone County
400
WV avg
41.5
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Boone County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 54005.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Boone County

8 departments report from this county.

MADISON FIRE DEPT
MADISON
FDID 03102 102 incidents 35 vol
DANVILLE VFD
Danville
FDID 03101 96 incidents 37 vol
RACINE FD
Racine
FDID 03103 88 incidents 35 vol
VAN FD
VAN
FDID 03105 51 incidents 23 vol
WHITESVILLE VFD INC
WHITESVILLE
FDID 03106 44 incidents 28 vol
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.