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2025 County Report

Fires in Charlotte County, VA

In 2025, fire departments serving Charlotte County responded to 43 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $15K property loss.

2,401 residents FIPS 51037 26 cities · 7 fire depts
Total incidents
43
74 across 5 years
Building fires
13
14 wildland
Property loss
$39K
$26K structure · $13K contents
Casualties
0 / 0
0 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 70% of all calls.

43
Total Incidents
Building fires 13 30.2%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 11 25.6%
Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire 2 4.7%
Natural vegetation fire, other 2 4.7%
Authorized controlled burning 2 4.7%
All other categories 13 30.2%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Charlotte County?

Sep peaks. May dips.

Jan 3
Feb 4
Mar 3
Apr 6
May 0
Jun 0
Jul 1
Aug 5
Sep 7
Oct 2
Nov 7
Dec 5
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Charlotte County

74 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 6
2022 11
2023 5
2024 9
2025 43
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 13 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
44%
4
Cause undetermined
33%
3
Intentional / arson
11%
1
Equipment / heat source failure
0%
0
Under investigation
11%
1
Act of nature (lightning)
1%
0
05 The biggest fires

4 fires · $26K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Charlotte County during 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $15,000 Randolph Outside storage fire Significant
2 $10,000 phenix Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other Significant
3 $500 Brookneal Cultivated grain or crop fire Significant
4 $500 CLOVER Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire Significant
06 How Charlotte County compares

Charlotte County vs VA vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

17.91
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Charlotte County
17.91
VA avg
8.68
US avg
7.15
5.41
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Charlotte County
5.41
VA avg
0.84
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Charlotte County
0
VA avg
6.1
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Charlotte County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 51037.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Charlotte County

7 departments report from this county.

Red House Vol Fire Dept
Red House
FDID 03707 26 incidents 28 vol
Keysville Vol Fire Dept
Keysville
FDID 03705 14 incidents 24 vol
Bacon District Vol Fire Dept
Wylliesburg
FDID 03701 0 incidents 35 vol
Charlotte Court House VFD
—
FDID 03702 0 incidents 23 vol
Cullen Vol Fire Dept
—
FDID 03703 0 incidents 9 vol
09 Historical wildfires

Largest fires recorded in VA

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

#NameYearAgencyAcres
1 PINNACLES 2000 NPS 18,055
2 Mount Pleasant 2016 USFS 11,210
3 Waterfall Mountain 2024 USFS 6,398
4 Waites Run 2024 USFS 6,223
5 OLD RAG 2000 NPS 6,127
6 BIG RUN 1986 NPS 4,696
7 FULTZ RUN 2002 NPS 4,194
8 Shop Run 1999 NPS 3,229
9 Raven Rock 2016 USFS 2,401
10 Tye River 2018 USFS 2,057

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.