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2025 County Report

Fires in Marion County, WV

In 2025, fire departments serving Marion County responded to 635 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $400K property loss.

30,224 residents FIPS 54049 65 cities · 13 fire depts
Total incidents
635
3,511 across 5 years
Building fires
159
63 wildland
Property loss
$4.6M
$2.9M structure · $1.7M contents
Casualties
0 / 5
0 civ deaths · 0 civ inj · 5 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Building fires lead by count. Top five categories make up about 66% of all calls.

635
Total Incidents
Building fires 159 25.0%
Power line down 123 19.4%
Aircraft standby 52 8.2%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 48 7.6%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 37 5.8%
All other categories 216 34.0%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Marion County?

Mar peaks. Nov dips.

Jan 72
Feb 69
Mar 119
Apr 91
May 74
Jun 81
Jul 57
Aug 57
Sep 12
Oct 3
Nov 0
Dec 0
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Marion County

3,511 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 688
2022 736
2023 672
2024 780
2025 635
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 159 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
53%
49
Cause undetermined
10%
9
Intentional / arson
1%
1
Equipment / heat source failure
23%
21
Under investigation
9%
8
Act of nature (lightning)
4%
2
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $1.9M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Marion County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 66% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $400,000 RIVESVILLE Building fires Major
2 $225,000 FAIRMONT Building fires Significant
3 $225,000 FAIRMONT Fires in structures other than in a building Significant
4 $225,000 FAIRMONT Building fires Significant
5 $200,000 Fairmont Building fires Significant
6 $200,000 Fairmont Building fires Significant
7 $150,000 Mannington Building fires Significant
8 $100,000 fAIRVIEW Building fires Significant
9 $100,000 Farmington Building fires Significant
10 $75,000 FAIRMONT Building fires Significant
06 How Marion County compares

Marion County vs WV vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

21.01
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Marion County
21.01
WV avg
22.82
US avg
7.15
5.26
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Marion County
5.26
WV avg
4.85
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Marion County
0
WV avg
41.5
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Marion County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 54049.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Marion County

13 departments report from this county.

FAIRMONT FD
FAIRMONT
FDID 24204 153 incidents 41 paid
FARMINGTON VFD
Farmington
FDID 24107 79 incidents 28 vol
MONONGAH VFD
MONONGAH
FDID 24110 64 incidents 30 vol
MANNINGTON VFD
Mannington
FDID 24109 63 incidents 31 vol
BARRACKVILLE VFD
Barrackville
FDID 24101 53 incidents 25 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.