Home› Counties› VA› Waynesboro city
2025 County Report

Fires in Waynesboro city, VA

In 2025, fire departments serving Waynesboro city responded to 273 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $25K property loss.

22,341 residents FIPS 51820 1 cities · 1 fire depts
Total incidents
273
1,609 across 5 years
Building fires
10
19 wildland
Property loss
$122K
$101K structure · $21K contents
Casualties
0 / 0
0 civ deaths · 0 civ inj · 0 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Power line down lead by count. Top five categories make up about 52% of all calls.

273
Total Incidents
Power line down 42 15.4%
Vehicle accident, general cleanup 33 12.1%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 32 11.7%
Arcing, shorted electrical equipment 18 6.6%
Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire 16 5.9%
All other categories 132 48.4%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Waynesboro city?

Nov peaks. Dec dips.

Jan 23
Feb 26
Mar 30
Apr 21
May 30
Jun 14
Jul 28
Aug 17
Sep 22
Oct 27
Nov 32
Dec 3
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Waynesboro city

1,609 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 232
2022 415
2023 347
2024 342
2025 273
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 10 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
39%
15
Cause undetermined
32%
12
Intentional / arson
13%
5
Equipment / heat source failure
8%
3
Under investigation
3%
1
Act of nature (lightning)
5%
2
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $81K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Waynesboro city during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 80% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $25,000 WAYNESBORO Building fires Significant
2 $12,000 WAYNESBORO Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire Significant
3 $8,000 WAYNESBORO Passenger vehicle fire Significant
4 $7,000 WAYNESBORO Building fires Significant
5 $6,500 Waynesboro Camper or recreational vehicle (RV) fire Significant
6 $5,000 WAYNESBORO Passenger vehicle fire Significant
7 $5,000 WAYNESBORO Passenger vehicle fire Significant
8 $5,000 WAYNESBORO Building fires Significant
9 $4,500 WAYNESBORO Passenger vehicle fire Significant
10 $3,000 WAYNESBORO Passenger vehicle fire Significant
06 How Waynesboro city compares

Waynesboro city vs VA vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

12.22
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Waynesboro city
12.22
VA avg
8.68
US avg
7.15
0.45
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Waynesboro city
0.45
VA avg
0.84
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Waynesboro city
0
VA avg
6.1
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Waynesboro city

1 cities mapped to FIPS 51820.

CityPopulation 
Waynesboro 22,341 View ›
08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Waynesboro city

1 departments report from this county.

Waynesboro Fire Dept
Waynesboro
FDID 82000 280 incidents 29 paid 12 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.