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2025 County Report

Fires in Northampton County, VA

In 2025, fire departments serving Northampton County responded to 42 fire and hazmat incidents.

4,637 residents FIPS 51131 45 cities · 5 fire depts
Total incidents
42
256 across 5 years
Building fires
11
1 wildland
Property loss
$0
$0 structure · $0 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 62% of all calls.

42
Total Incidents
Building fires 11 26.2%
Hazardous condition, other 4 9.5%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 4 9.5%
Vehicle accident, general cleanup 4 9.5%
Passenger vehicle fire 3 7.1%
All other categories 16 38.1%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Northampton County?

Sep peaks. Nov dips.

Jan 8
Feb 5
Mar 4
Apr 1
May 1
Jun 1
Jul 6
Aug 2
Sep 9
Oct 5
Nov 0
Dec 0
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Northampton County

256 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 50
2022 75
2023 53
2024 36
2025 42
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 11 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
100%
1
Cause undetermined
0%
0
Intentional / arson
0%
0
Equipment / heat source failure
0%
0
Under investigation
0%
0
Act of nature (lightning)
0%
0
06 How Northampton County compares

Northampton County vs VA vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

9.06
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Northampton County
9.06
VA avg
8.68
US avg
7.15
2.37
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Northampton County
2.37
VA avg
0.84
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Northampton County
0
VA avg
6.1
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Northampton County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 51131.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Northampton County

5 departments report from this county.

Community Fire Co Inc
Exmore
FDID 13113 0 incidents 18 vol
Cheriton Vol Fire Dept
Cape Charles
FDID 13114 0 incidents 50 vol
Cape Charles Vol Fire Dept
—
FDID 13115 0 incidents 30 vol
Northampton Fire Rescue
—
FDID 13116 0 incidents 25 vol
Eastville Vol Fire Co Inc
EASTVILLE
FDID 13117 0 incidents 27 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.