In 2025, fire departments serving Awendaw responded to 50 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $34K 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 66% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
236 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $542K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 13 | — | |
| 2022 | 62 | — | |
| 2023 | 59 | -4.8% | |
| 2024 | 52 | -11.9% | |
| 2025 | 50 | -3.8% |
* Well below Awendaw'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 11 building fires Awendaw departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 102 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 | 37 | 36.3% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 10 | 9.8% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 9 | 8.8% | |
| 4 | Wildland, woods | 9 | 8.8% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 7 | 6.9% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 5 | 4.9% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 4 | 3.9% | |
| 8 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 3 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 3 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 13 | 12.7% |
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 Awendaw mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 61 | 59.8% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 5 | 4.9% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 5 | 4.9% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 5 | 4.9% | |
| 5 | Match | 4 | 3.9% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 2.9% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Arcing | 3 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 2.0% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 9 | 8.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Awendaw departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $34,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $10,000 | Forest, woods or wildland fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $6,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $5,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $5,000 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $300 | Outside equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Awendaw sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 28,718 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,765 | 9.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,466 | 19.0 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,933 | 6.0 mi | |
| 2002 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,922 | 28.8 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 1,834 | 17.2 mi | |
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,695 | 26.6 mi | |
| 2018 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,630 | 8.6 mi | |
| 2002 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,600 | 35.3 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,600 | 18.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 1,247 | 47.0 mi | |
| 2017 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,115 | 20.1 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 904 | 9.2 mi |
Top 6 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six South Carolina cities with population within ±25% of Awendaw. 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.