In 2025, fire departments serving Auburn responded to 95 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $5K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Unauthorized burning lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 60% of all calls.
Mar peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
522 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $2.3M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 67 | — | |
| 2022 | 95 | +41.8% | |
| 2023 | 138 | +45.3% | |
| 2024 | 127 | -8.0% | |
| 2025 | 95 | -25.2% |
For the 2 building fires Auburn departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 100 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 22 | 22.0% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 10 | 10.0% | |
| 3 | Wildland, woods | 10 | 10.0% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 9 | 9.0% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 9 | 9.0% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 7 | 7.0% | |
| 7 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 4 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 3 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Wall assembly | 3 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Exterior, exposed surface | 3 | 3.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 20 | 20.0% |
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 Auburn mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 25 | 25.0% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 10 | 10.0% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 10 | 10.0% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 9 | 9.0% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 8 | 8.0% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 6 | 6.0% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 4 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 4 | 4.0% | |
| 9 | Heat source: other | 3 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Fireworks | 3 | 3.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 18 | 18.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Auburn departments in 2025. These 5 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $1,500 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $500 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Auburn sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 12,652 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,048 | 47.2 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,040 | 48.8 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 915 | 44.5 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 802 | 45.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 780 | 42.5 mi | |
| 2002 | Debris and open burning | 547 | 48.8 mi | |
| 2008 | Debris and open burning | 542 | 46.1 mi | |
| 2016 | Equipment and vehicle use | 528 | 49.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Equipment and vehicle use | 471 | 49.6 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 455 | 46.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 440 | 44.0 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 356 | 46.6 mi |
Top 4 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Georgia cities with population within ±25% of Auburn. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
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.