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2025 County Report

Fires in Lewis County, WV

In 2025, fire departments serving Lewis County responded to 194 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $225K property loss.

4,538 residents FIPS 54041 45 cities · 5 fire depts
Total incidents
194
1,244 across 5 years
Building fires
36
34 wildland
Property loss
$687K
$521K structure · $165K 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 63% of all calls.

194
Total Incidents
Building fires 36 18.6%
Power line down 35 18.0%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 20 10.3%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 20 10.3%
Passenger vehicle fire 12 6.2%
All other categories 71 36.6%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Lewis County?

Mar peaks. Dec dips.

Jan 24
Feb 16
Mar 56
Apr 17
May 18
Jun 12
Jul 22
Aug 17
Sep 9
Oct 2
Nov 1
Dec 0
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Lewis County

1,244 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 232
2022 267
2023 287
2024 264
2025 194
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 36 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
50%
17
Cause undetermined
15%
5
Intentional / arson
6%
2
Equipment / heat source failure
15%
5
Under investigation
12%
4
Act of nature (lightning)
2%
1
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $489K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Lewis County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 94% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $225,000 Weston Building fires Significant
2 $100,000 Weston Building fires Significant
3 $50,000 weston Building fires Significant
4 $30,000 Weston Passenger vehicle fire Significant
5 $25,000 Walkersville Passenger vehicle fire Significant
6 $20,000 jane lew Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire Significant
7 $10,000 Jane Lew Building fires Significant
8 $10,000 alum bridge Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire Significant
9 $10,000 weston Building fires Significant
10 $8,500 Jane Lew Passenger vehicle fire Significant
06 How Lewis County compares

Lewis County vs WV vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

42.75
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Lewis County
42.75
WV avg
22.82
US avg
7.15
7.93
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Lewis County
7.93
WV avg
4.85
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Lewis County
0
WV avg
41.5
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Lewis County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 54041.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Lewis County

5 departments report from this county.

WESTON FD
Weston
FDID 21305 82 incidents 5 paid 30 vol
JANE LEW VFD
Jane Lew
FDID 21102 25 incidents 21 vol
MIDWAY VFD
Alum Bridge
FDID 21105 21 incidents 23 vol
PRICETOWN VFD
WESTON
FDID 21103 15 incidents 20 vol
WALKERSVILLE VFD
Walkersville
FDID 21104 13 incidents 20 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.