In 2025, fire departments serving Belton responded to 202 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $130K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Grass fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 65% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,436 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $1.8M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 252 | — | |
| 2022 | 264 | +4.8% | |
| 2023 | 341 | +29.2% | |
| 2024 | 377 | +10.6% | |
| 2025 | 202 | -46.4% |
For the 37 building fires Belton departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 645 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 | 163 | 25.3% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 135 | 20.9% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 59 | 9.1% | |
| 4 | Wildland, woods | 41 | 6.4% | |
| 5 | Other | 33 | 5.1% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 33 | 5.1% | |
| 7 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 31 | 4.8% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 23 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 12 | 1.9% | |
| 10 | Railroad right of way: on or near | 10 | 1.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 105 | 16.3% |
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 Belton mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 389 | 60.3% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 45 | 7.0% | |
| 3 | Cigarette lighter | 32 | 5.0% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 24 | 3.7% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 22 | 3.4% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 21 | 3.3% | |
| 7 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 18 | 2.8% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 13 | 2.0% | |
| 9 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 12 | 1.9% | |
| 10 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 10 | 1.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 59 | 9.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Belton departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 98% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $130,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $40,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $20,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $8,000 | Self-propelled motor home or recreational vehicle | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $3,500 | Outside gas or vapor combustion explosion | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $3,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Belton sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 18,110 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 10,623 | 38.0 mi | |
| 1993 | Natural | 1,050 | 46.7 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 800 | 44.6 mi | |
| 2017 | Recreation and ceremony | 570 | 46.9 mi | |
| 2014 | Recreation and ceremony | 468 | 40.6 mi | |
| 2009 | Recreation and ceremony | 351 | 41.2 mi | |
| 2007 | Recreation and ceremony | 325 | 21.2 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 310 | 46.7 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 41.1 mi | |
| 2002 | Arson/incendiarism | 275 | 49.2 mi | |
| 2006 | Equipment and vehicle use | 275 | 48.5 mi | |
| 2007 | Recreation and ceremony | 250 | 37.7 mi |
Top 5 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 Belton. 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.