In 2025, fire departments serving Birmingham responded to 117 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $15K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 70% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
956 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $5.4M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 220 | — | |
| 2022 | 179 | -18.6% | |
| 2023 | 228 | +27.4% | |
| 2024 | 212 | -7.0% | |
| 2025 | 117 | -44.8% |
For the 1 building fires Birmingham departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 174 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 | 40 | 23.0% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 34 | 19.5% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 15 | 8.6% | |
| 4 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 8 | 4.6% | |
| 5 | Other | 7 | 4.0% | |
| 6 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 6 | 3.4% | |
| 7 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 5 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 5 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 4 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Wall assembly | 4 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 46 | 26.4% |
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 Birmingham mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 37 | 21.3% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 34 | 19.5% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 15 | 8.6% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 12 | 6.9% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 9 | 5.2% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 9 | 5.2% | |
| 7 | Cigarette | 9 | 5.2% | |
| 8 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 8 | 4.6% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 7 | 4.0% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 4 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 30 | 17.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Birmingham departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $1,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $200 | Special outside fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Birmingham sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,523 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Debris and open burning | 300 | 36.9 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 143 | 45.7 mi | |
| 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 100 | 37.1 mi | |
| 1996 | Debris and open burning | 98 | 49.9 mi | |
| 2019 | Equipment and vehicle use | 80 | 43.3 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 77 | 39.3 mi | |
| 2012 | Smoking | 64 | 39.7 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 53 | 39.1 mi | |
| 2017 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 51 | 45.7 mi | |
| 2015 | Equipment and vehicle use | 50 | 44.0 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 50 | 23.8 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 49 | 9.9 mi |
Top 2 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Michigan cities with population within ±25% of Birmingham. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Birmingham.
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.