In 2025, fire departments serving Bessemer City responded to 122 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K 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 51% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
703 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $1.3M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 126 | — | |
| 2022 | 116 | -7.9% | |
| 2023 | 138 | +19.0% | |
| 2024 | 201 | +45.7% | |
| 2025 | 122 | -39.3% |
For the 21 building fires Bessemer City departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 248 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 | Outside area, other | 79 | 31.9% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 30 | 12.1% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 29 | 11.7% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 17 | 6.9% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 15 | 6.0% | |
| 6 | Wildland, woods | 15 | 6.0% | |
| 7 | Other | 11 | 4.4% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 5 | 2.0% | |
| 9 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 4 | 1.6% | |
| 10 | Vehicle area, other | 4 | 1.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 39 | 15.7% |
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 Bessemer City mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 104 | 41.9% | |
| 2 | Cigarette lighter | 24 | 9.7% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 16 | 6.5% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 15 | 6.0% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 12 | 4.8% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 11 | 4.4% | |
| 7 | Match | 10 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 6 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Heat, spark from friction | 6 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Cigarette | 6 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 38 | 15.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Bessemer City departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 94% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $80,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $30,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $10,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Bessemer City sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 13,186 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,431 | 30.0 mi | |
| 2001 | Debris and open burning | 2,235 | 48.8 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 562 | 31.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 535 | 31.0 mi | |
| 2015 | Natural | 521 | 50.0 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 493 | 33.4 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 35.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 200 | 34.4 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 165 | 30.9 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 147 | 38.0 mi | |
| 1993 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 140 | 26.0 mi | |
| 2002 | Smoking | 136 | 26.5 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 | 28016 | 703 |
Six North Carolina cities with population within ±25% of Bessemer City. 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.