In 2025, fire departments serving Ackerman responded to 16 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $75K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 81% of all calls.
Feb peaks. Apr dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
64 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $85K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 0 | — | |
| 2022* | 1 | — | |
| 2023* | 6 | — | |
| 2024 | 41 | — | |
| 2025 | 16 | -61.0% |
* Well below Ackerman's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.
For the 5 building fires Ackerman departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 21 building fires investigators classified across 2021–2025. The room or location where ignition occurred — kitchens, bedrooms, exterior, vehicle areas — tells you where to focus prevention.
| # | Area of origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 12 | 57.1% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 3 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 4 | Conduit, pipe, utility, or ventilation shaft | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 5 | Duct: hvac, cable, exhaust, heating, or AC | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 6 | Wall surface: exterior | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 8 | Exterior, exposed surface | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 9 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 10 | Wildland, woods | 1 | 4.8% |
NFIRS Heat Source (HEAT_SOURC) — the physical thing that started it. Spark or ember from operating equipment, an open flame, smoking materials, or hot embers from a fireplace are the leading culprits nationwide. Here's the Ackerman mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 12 | 57.1% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 3 | 14.3% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 6 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 8 | Multiple heat sources including multiple ignitions | 1 | 4.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Ackerman departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $5,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $100 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $100 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Ackerman sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 14,971 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 5,208 | 36.9 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 892 | 40.8 mi | |
| 2013 | Natural | 700 | 18.5 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 626 | 37.8 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 475 | 14.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 472 | 17.3 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 470 | 30.8 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 450 | 23.2 mi | |
| 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 416 | 39.5 mi | |
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 390 | 18.3 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 387 | 32.0 mi | |
| 2017 | Debris and open burning | 374 | 8.6 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 39735 | 64 |
Six Mississippi cities with population within ±25% of Ackerman. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Ackerman.
A 30-minute weekend can cut your home's exposure substantially. These four checklists are a good starting point.
Numbers reflect incidents reported by participating fire departments to the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) Public Data Release for calendar year 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. Per-capita comparisons use 2023 ACS population estimates. Wildland fire data complements NFIRS with NIFC and USFS perimeters. Active-fire counts come from a dated NIFC snapshot, not a live feed.