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2025 County Report

Fires in Summers County, WV

In 2025, fire departments serving Summers County responded to 127 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $80K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Moderate.

2,167 residents FIPS 54089 46 cities · 5 fire depts
Total incidents
127
811 across 5 years
Building fires
25
15 wildland
Property loss
$563K
$246K structure · $317K 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 55% of all calls.

127
Total Incidents
Building fires 25 19.7%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 12 9.4%
Power line down 12 9.4%
Fire, other 11 8.7%
Hazardous condition, other 10 7.9%
All other categories 57 44.9%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Summers County?

Jan peaks. Oct dips.

Jan 25
Feb 10
Mar 16
Apr 17
May 15
Jun 17
Jul 13
Aug 12
Sep 2
Oct 0
Nov 0
Dec 0
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Summers County

811 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 139
2022 147
2023 205
2024 193
2025 127
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 25 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
38%
12
Cause undetermined
41%
13
Intentional / arson
6%
2
Equipment / heat source failure
0%
0
Under investigation
16%
5
Act of nature (lightning)
-1%
0
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $246K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Summers County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 100% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $80,000 Pipestem Building fires Significant
2 $60,000 Pipestem Building fires Significant
3 $25,300 Hinton Building fires Significant
4 $20,000 Nimitz Building fires Significant
5 $20,000 Talcott Passenger vehicle fire Significant
6 $15,000 Jumping Branch Passenger vehicle fire Significant
7 $10,000 Nimitz Passenger vehicle fire Significant
8 $10,000 Hinton Passenger vehicle fire Significant
9 $5,000 Talcott Chimney or flue fire, confined to chimney or flue Significant
10 $500 Hinton Building fires Significant
06 How Summers County compares

Summers County vs WV vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

58.61
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Summers County
58.61
WV avg
22.82
US avg
7.15
11.54
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Summers County
11.54
WV avg
4.85
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Summers County
0
WV avg
41.5
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Summers County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 54089.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Summers County

5 departments report from this county.

GREEN SULPHUR DISTRICT VFD
Sandstone
FDID 45109 30 incidents 10 vol
PIPESTEM VFD
Pipestem
FDID 45105 27 incidents 21 vol
JUMPING BRANCHNIMITZ VFD
Jumping Branch
FDID 45102 18 incidents 15 vol
HINTON VFD
Hinton
FDID 45301 16 incidents 4 paid 16 vol
FOREST HILLS VFD
Forest Hill
FDID 45104 13 incidents 10 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.