Direct fire losses include fire damage and loss to buildings and their contents.  Indirect losses include the cost of medical treatment resulting from fire-related injuries, the loss of personal income and business revenues, loss of property and sales taxes, opportunity costs of lost productivity, and other economic losses to a community.    

The Department has been recording the City's experience with direct fire loss for many years.  Each year the City's total direct fire loss is converted to a figure representing total fire loss compared to the total assessed value of property in the City.  The benchmark figure used for analysis of each year's fire loss is the average of the loss experienced for 10 prior years. 

Measuring Direct Fire Loss Per Total Assessed Value of Property Protected in the City allows for comparisons of the Charlottesville Fire Department's performance in protecting the city's property assets with the performance of other fire departments in other jurisdictions where property values may be higher or lower.