In 2025, fire departments serving Nelson County responded to 166 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $250K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Moderate.
Hazardous condition, other lead by count. Top five categories make up about 52% of all calls.
Mar peaks. May dips.
857 incidents from 2021 through 2025.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 80 | |
| 2022 | 183 | |
| 2023 | 195 | |
| 2024 | 233 | |
| 2025 | 166 |
For the 13 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.
Largest single-incident property losses in Nelson County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 97% of the county's total.
| # | Property loss | City | Type | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $250,000 | Afton | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Major |
| 2 | $200,000 | ROSELAND | Building fires | Significant |
| 3 | $50,000 | ROSELAND | Building fires | Significant |
| 4 | $10,000 | Afton | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant |
| 5 | $10,000 | GLADSTONE | Building fires | Significant |
| 6 | $10,000 | WINGINA | Building fires | Significant |
| 7 | $10,000 | FABER | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant |
| 8 | $8,000 | FABER | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant |
| 9 | $6,000 | Afton | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant |
| 10 | $5,000 | GLADSTONE | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.
12 cities mapped to FIPS 51125.
| City | Population | |
|---|---|---|
| Nellysford | 1,396 | View › |
| Arrington | 1,226 | View › |
| Shipman | 439 | View › |
| Wintergreen | 413 | View › |
| Lovingston | 382 | View › |
| Schuyler | 323 | View › |
| Afton | 263 | View › |
| Martins Store | 0 | View › |
| Lowesville | 0 | View › |
| Wingina | 0 | View › |
| Five Forks | 0 | View › |
| Adial | 0 | View › |
7 departments report from this county.
Top 10 fire perimeters by acres burned (state-scoped fallback while we build out per-county polygons).
| # | Name | Year | Agency | Acres |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
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.