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2025 County Report

Fires in Putnam County, WV

In 2025, fire departments serving Putnam County responded to 368 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $180K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Moderate.

29,100 residents FIPS 54079 30 cities · 8 fire depts
Total incidents
368
2,376 across 5 years
Building fires
111
65 wildland
Property loss
$752K
$553K structure · $199K contents
Casualties
0 / 2
0 civ deaths · 2 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 63% of all calls.

368
Total Incidents
Building fires 111 30.2%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 35 9.5%
Passenger vehicle fire 33 9.0%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 33 9.0%
Authorized controlled burning 21 5.7%
All other categories 135 36.7%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Putnam County?

Mar peaks. Nov dips.

Jan 47
Feb 45
Mar 63
Apr 40
May 30
Jun 34
Jul 42
Aug 45
Sep 15
Oct 7
Nov 0
Dec 0
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Putnam County

2,376 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 450
2022 474
2023 555
2024 529
2025 368
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 111 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
50%
57
Cause undetermined
13%
15
Intentional / arson
13%
15
Equipment / heat source failure
10%
12
Under investigation
10%
11
Act of nature (lightning)
4%
5
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $505K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Putnam County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 91% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $180,000 Eleanor Building fires Significant
2 $100,000 HURRICANE Building fires Significant
3 $50,000 Poca Building fires Significant
4 $40,000 Scott Depot Passenger vehicle fire Significant
5 $35,000 FRAZIERS BOTTOM Passenger vehicle fire Significant
6 $25,000 Bancroft Building fires Significant
7 $25,000 HURRICANE Building fires Significant
8 $20,000 HURRICANE Building fires Significant
9 $20,000 Poca Building fires Significant
10 $10,000 Poca Building fires Significant
06 How Putnam County compares

Putnam County vs WV vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

12.65
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Putnam County
12.65
WV avg
22.82
US avg
7.15
3.81
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Putnam County
3.81
WV avg
4.85
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Putnam County
0
WV avg
41.5
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Putnam County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 54079.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Putnam County

8 departments report from this county.

WINFIELD VFD
Winfield
FDID 40109 102 incidents 32 vol
HURRICANE VFD
HURRICANE
FDID 40104 93 incidents 20 vol
ELEANOR VFD
Eleanor
FDID 40103 63 incidents 23 vol
TEAYS VALLEY VFD
Scott Depot
FDID 40108 40 incidents 32 vol
POCA VFD
Poca
FDID 40105 34 incidents 25 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.