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2025 County Report

Fires in Pocahontas County, WV

In 2025, fire departments serving Pocahontas County responded to 147 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $250K property loss.

2,115 residents FIPS 54075 61 cities · 4 fire depts
Total incidents
147
758 across 5 years
Building fires
18
4 wildland
Property loss
$1.0M
$671K structure · $352K contents
Casualties
0 / 0
0 civ deaths · 0 civ inj · 0 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Aircraft standby lead by count. Top five categories make up about 80% of all calls.

147
Total Incidents
Aircraft standby 77 52.4%
Building fires 18 12.2%
Arcing, shorted electrical equipment 9 6.1%
Hazardous condition, other 7 4.8%
Power line down 6 4.1%
All other categories 30 20.4%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Pocahontas County?

Jan peaks. Oct dips.

Jan 20
Feb 17
Mar 9
Apr 10
May 15
Jun 13
Jul 20
Aug 15
Sep 15
Oct 4
Nov 5
Dec 4
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Pocahontas County

758 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 142
2022 167
2023 145
2024 157
2025 147
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 18 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
47%
7
Cause undetermined
0%
0
Intentional / arson
7%
1
Equipment / heat source failure
7%
1
Under investigation
40%
6
Act of nature (lightning)
-1%
0
05 The biggest fires

7 fires · $671K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Pocahontas County during 2025. These 7 fires alone account for 100% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $250,000 Arbovale Fires in structures other than in a building Major
2 $250,000 Arbovale Fires in structures other than in a building Major
3 $150,000 Slaty Fork Building fires Significant
4 $10,000 Marlinton Building fires Significant
5 $8,000 Bartow Building fires Significant
6 $2,500 Marlinton Road freight or transport vehicle fire Significant
7 $500 Marlinton Outside equipment fire Significant
06 How Pocahontas County compares

Pocahontas County vs WV vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

69.5
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Pocahontas County
69.5
WV avg
22.82
US avg
7.15
8.51
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Pocahontas County
8.51
WV avg
4.85
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Pocahontas County
0
WV avg
41.5
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Pocahontas County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 54075.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Pocahontas County

4 departments report from this county.

MARLINTON FD
Marlinton
FDID 38103 99 incidents 2 paid 18 vol
BARTOWFRANKDURBIN FD
Durbin
FDID 38108 20 incidents 31 vol
CASS VFD
Cass
FDID 38106 7 incidents 18 vol
FROST VFD
Marlington
FDID 38105 6 incidents 15 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.