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2025 County Report

Fires in Upshur County, WV

In 2025, fire departments serving Upshur County responded to 271 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $80K property loss.

6,012 residents FIPS 54097 60 cities · 7 fire depts
Total incidents
271
1,446 across 5 years
Building fires
32
37 wildland
Property loss
$367K
$290K structure · $77K 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 61% of all calls.

271
Total Incidents
Power line down 81 29.9%
Building fires 32 11.8%
Forest, woods or wildland fire 20 7.4%
Hazardous condition, other 16 5.9%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 16 5.9%
All other categories 106 39.1%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Upshur County?

Mar peaks. Nov dips.

Jan 35
Feb 31
Mar 42
Apr 40
May 31
Jun 22
Jul 21
Aug 12
Sep 18
Oct 15
Nov 2
Dec 2
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Upshur County

1,446 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 359
2022 309
2023 251
2024 256
2025 271
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 32 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
38%
13
Cause undetermined
29%
10
Intentional / arson
9%
3
Equipment / heat source failure
9%
3
Under investigation
12%
4
Act of nature (lightning)
3%
0
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $280K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Upshur County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 97% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $80,000 Buckhannon Building fires Significant
2 $50,000 Buckhannon Building fires Significant
3 $36,000 Buckhannon Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire Significant
4 $26,000 Buckhannon Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire Significant
5 $25,400 Buckhannon Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence Significant
6 $25,000 Buckhannon Building fires Significant
7 $17,000 Buckhannon Passenger vehicle fire Significant
8 $10,000 Buckhannon Passenger vehicle fire Significant
9 $6,000 Buckhannon Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence Significant
10 $5,000 Buckhannon Building fires Significant
06 How Upshur County compares

Upshur County vs WV vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

45.08
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Upshur County
45.08
WV avg
22.82
US avg
7.15
5.32
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Upshur County
5.32
WV avg
4.85
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Upshur County
0
WV avg
41.5
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Upshur County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 54097.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Upshur County

7 departments report from this county.

BUCKHANNON FD
Buckhannon
FDID 49302 144 incidents 10 paid 9 vol
WASHINGTON DISTRICT VFC
Tallmansville
FDID 49103 34 incidents 24 vol
ADRIAN VFD
Adrian
FDID 49101 25 incidents 21 vol
BANKS DISTRICT VFD
Rock Cave
FDID 49104 23 incidents 30 vol
WARREN DISTRICT VFD
Hedgesville
FDID 49107 21 incidents 18 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.