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2025 County Report

Fires in Marshall County, WV

In 2025, fire departments serving Marshall County responded to 311 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $125K property loss.

13,229 residents FIPS 54051 39 cities · 13 fire depts
Total incidents
311
1,628 across 5 years
Building fires
83
41 wildland
Property loss
$709K
$535K structure · $174K contents
Casualties
0 / 1
0 civ deaths · 1 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 57% of all calls.

311
Total Incidents
Building fires 83 26.7%
Power line down 36 11.6%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 29 9.3%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 18 5.8%
Fire, other 12 3.9%
All other categories 133 42.8%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Marshall County?

Apr peaks. Nov dips.

Jan 44
Feb 22
Mar 56
Apr 62
May 17
Jun 26
Jul 48
Aug 20
Sep 6
Oct 4
Nov 2
Dec 4
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Marshall County

1,628 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 372
2022 307
2023 350
2024 288
2025 311
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 83 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
41%
32
Cause undetermined
20%
16
Intentional / arson
5%
4
Equipment / heat source failure
0%
0
Under investigation
33%
26
Act of nature (lightning)
1%
1
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $504K in losses

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

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $125,000 Glen Dale Building fires Significant
2 $100,000 Dallas Fire, other Significant
3 $100,000 moundsville Fire, other Significant
4 $39,500 Moundsville Building fires Significant
5 $30,000 Benwood Building fires Significant
6 $30,000 BENWOOD Building fires Significant
7 $24,000 Glen Eaton Passenger vehicle fire Significant
8 $20,000 Dallas Passenger vehicle fire Significant
9 $20,000 Moundsville Building fires Significant
10 $15,000 Glen Dale Fire, other Significant
06 How Marshall County compares

Marshall County vs WV vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

23.51
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Marshall County
23.51
WV avg
22.82
US avg
7.15
6.27
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Marshall County
6.27
WV avg
4.85
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Marshall County
0
WV avg
41.5
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Marshall County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 54051.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Marshall County

13 departments report from this county.

MOUNDSVILLE VFD INC
Moundsville
FDID 25109 88 incidents 46 vol
BENWOOD VFD
BENWOOD
FDID 25101 31 incidents 40 vol
CAMERON VFD
Cameron
FDID 25103 30 incidents 25 vol
LIMESTONE VFD
Moundsville
FDID 25106 25 incidents 8 vol
MT OLIVET VFD
Wheeling
FDID 25111 25 incidents 12 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.