Home› Counties› VA› Washington County
2025 County Report

Fires in Washington County, VA

In 2025, fire departments serving Washington County responded to 356 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $400K property loss.

12,546 residents FIPS 51191 81 cities · 9 fire depts
Total incidents
356
1,470 across 5 years
Building fires
70
54 wildland
Property loss
$3.1M
$2.2M structure · $939K contents
Casualties
0 / 1
0 civ deaths · 1 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 48% of all calls.

356
Total Incidents
Building fires 70 19.7%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 32 9.0%
Authorized controlled burning 24 6.7%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 22 6.2%
Outside rubbish fire, other 21 5.9%
All other categories 187 52.5%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Washington County?

Mar peaks. Jun dips.

Jan 25
Feb 43
Mar 77
Apr 33
May 21
Jun 10
Jul 39
Aug 32
Sep 12
Oct 18
Nov 26
Dec 20
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Washington County

1,470 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 231
2022 311
2023 307
2024 265
2025 356
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 70 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
45%
64
Cause undetermined
13%
19
Intentional / arson
18%
25
Equipment / heat source failure
11%
16
Under investigation
8%
11
Act of nature (lightning)
5%
5
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $1.8M in losses

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

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $400,000 Abningdon Camper or recreational vehicle (RV) fire Major
2 $400,000 Abingdon Fires in structures other than in a building Major
3 $231,500 Abingdon Building fires Significant
4 $173,800 Abingdon Building fires Significant
5 $146,900 Abingdon Building fires Significant
6 $140,000 Abingdon Passenger vehicle fire Significant
7 $100,000 ABINGDON Building fires Significant
8 $100,000 Abingdon Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire Significant
9 $60,000 Abingdon Road freight or transport vehicle fire Significant
10 $50,000 Meadowview Road freight or transport vehicle fire Significant
06 How Washington County compares

Washington County vs VA vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

28.38
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Washington County
28.38
VA avg
8.68
US avg
7.15
5.58
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Washington County
5.58
VA avg
0.84
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Washington County
0
VA avg
6.1
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Washington County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 51191.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Washington County

9 departments report from this county.

Abingdon Vol Fire Dept
Abingdon
FDID 19120 107 incidents
Washington Co Fire Rescue
BRISTOL
FDID 19110 80 incidents 7 paid 13 vol
Meadowview Vol Fire Dept
—
FDID 19105 60 incidents 40 vol
Glade Spring Vol Fire Dept
Glade Spring
FDID 19104 58 incidents 35 vol
GoodsonKinderhook VFD
Bristol
FDID 19111 51 incidents 5 paid 31 vol
09 Historical wildfires

Largest fires recorded in VA

Top 10 fire perimeters by acres burned (state-scoped fallback while we build out per-county polygons).

#NameYearAgencyAcres
1 PINNACLES 2000 NPS 18,055
2 Mount Pleasant 2016 USFS 11,210
3 Waterfall Mountain 2024 USFS 6,398
4 Waites Run 2024 USFS 6,223
5 OLD RAG 2000 NPS 6,127
6 BIG RUN 1986 NPS 4,696
7 FULTZ RUN 2002 NPS 4,194
8 Shop Run 1999 NPS 3,229
9 Raven Rock 2016 USFS 2,401
10 Tye River 2018 USFS 2,057

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.