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2025 County Report

Fires in Ohio County, WV

In 2025, fire departments serving Ohio County responded to 538 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $100K property loss.

33,094 residents FIPS 54069 15 cities · 5 fire depts
Total incidents
538
3,158 across 5 years
Building fires
51
35 wildland
Property loss
$1.1M
$698K structure · $384K contents
Casualties
0 / 1
0 civ deaths · 0 civ inj · 1 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Power line down lead by count. Top five categories make up about 54% of all calls.

538
Total Incidents
Power line down 115 21.4%
Building fires 51 9.5%
Hazardous condition, other 49 9.1%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 44 8.2%
Unauthorized burning 33 6.1%
All other categories 246 45.7%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Ohio County?

Apr peaks. Dec dips.

Jan 41
Feb 39
Mar 65
Apr 106
May 54
Jun 82
Jul 46
Aug 34
Sep 35
Oct 23
Nov 13
Dec 0
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Ohio County

3,158 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 509
2022 778
2023 660
2024 673
2025 538
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 51 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
59%
62
Cause undetermined
18%
19
Intentional / arson
5%
5
Equipment / heat source failure
2%
2
Under investigation
13%
14
Act of nature (lightning)
3%
3
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $577K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Ohio County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 83% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $100,000 Wheeling Outside equipment fire Significant
2 $100,000 WHEELING Building fires Significant
3 $78,660 WHEELING Building fires Significant
4 $78,660 WHEELING Building fires Significant
5 $75,000 Triadelphia Building fires Significant
6 $40,000 WHEELING Building fires Significant
7 $35,000 WHEELING Building fires Significant
8 $25,000 Triadelphia Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence Significant
9 $25,000 WHEELING Building fires Significant
10 $20,000 WHEELING Outside equipment fire Significant
06 How Ohio County compares

Ohio County vs WV vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

16.26
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Ohio County
16.26
WV avg
22.82
US avg
7.15
1.54
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Ohio County
1.54
WV avg
4.85
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Ohio County
0
WV avg
41.5
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Ohio County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 54069.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Ohio County

5 departments report from this county.

WEST LIBERTY VFD
West Liberty
FDID 35107 59 incidents 30 vol
Valley Grove VFD
Valley Grove
FDID 35106 46 incidents 48 vol
MOZART VFD
Wheeling
FDID 35103 24 incidents 23 vol
CLEARVIEW VFD
WHEELING
FDID 35102 23 incidents 32 vol
STONECHURCH VFD
Wheeling
FDID 35104 22 incidents 30 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.