In 2025, fire departments serving Wise County responded to 131 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $327K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Very High.
Hazardous condition, other lead by count. Top five categories make up about 74% of all calls.
May peaks. Jun dips.
736 incidents from 2021 through 2025.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 121 | |
| 2022 | 174 | |
| 2023 | 161 | |
| 2024 | 149 | |
| 2025 | 131 |
For the 26 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.
Largest single-incident property losses in Wise County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 97% of the county's total.
| # | Property loss | City | Type | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $327,000 | Big Stone Gap | Building fires | Major |
| 2 | $250,000 | Big Stone Gap | Building fires | Major |
| 3 | $138,000 | Big Stone Gap | Building fires | Significant |
| 4 | $100,000 | Coeburn | Building fires | Significant |
| 5 | $100,000 | Big Stone Gap | Building fires | Significant |
| 6 | $50,000 | Big Stone Gap | Building fires | Significant |
| 7 | $25,000 | Coeburn | Building fires | Significant |
| 8 | $15,000 | Big Stone Gap | Unauthorized burning | Significant |
| 9 | $10,000 | Big Stone Gap | Building fires | Significant |
| 10 | $8,000 | Big Stone Gap | Building fires | Significant |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.
12 cities mapped to FIPS 51195.
| City | Population | |
|---|---|---|
| Big Stone Gap | 5,221 | View › |
| Wise | 2,962 | View › |
| Appalachia | 1,585 | View › |
| Coeburn | 1,533 | View › |
| St. Paul | 1,129 | View › |
| Pound | 933 | View › |
| East Stone Gap | 828 | View › |
| Big Stone Gap East | 656 | View › |
| The University of Virginia's College at Wise | 650 | View › |
| Riverview | 479 | View › |
| Tacoma | 154 | View › |
| Stonega | 150 | View › |
7 departments report from this county.
Top 10 fire perimeters by acres burned (state-scoped fallback while we build out per-county polygons).
| # | Name | Year | Agency | Acres |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
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.