In 2025, fire departments serving Benoit responded to 11 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $1K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Passenger vehicle fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 82% of all calls.
Apr peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
29 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $279K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 8 | — | |
| 2022 | 4 | -50.0% | |
| 2023* | 1 | — | |
| 2024 | 5 | — | |
| 2025 | 11 | +120.0% |
* Well below Benoit'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 2 building fires Benoit 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 | 13 | 61.9% | |
| 2 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 2 | 9.5% | |
| 3 | Other | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 4 | Assembly or sales area, other | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 5 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 6 | Structural area, other | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 8 | Outside area, other | 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 Benoit mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 19 | 90.5% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 1 | 4.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Benoit departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,000 | Fire in mobile prop. used as a fixed struc., other | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $1,000 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $500 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Benoit sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 5,593 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,013 | 39.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 606 | 36.3 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 468 | 24.5 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 300 | 43.8 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 279 | 34.8 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 265 | 34.3 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 210 | 16.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 188 | 24.6 mi | |
| 2012 | Natural | 179 | 46.4 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 178 | 49.8 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 176 | 42.9 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 158 | 24.7 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 | 38725 | 29 |
Six Mississippi cities with population within ±25% of Benoit. 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.