In 2025, fire departments serving Blythewood responded to 190 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $500K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Carbon monoxide incident lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 66% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
649 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $3.0M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 105 | — | |
| 2022 | 105 | +0.0% | |
| 2023 | 95 | -9.5% | |
| 2024 | 154 | +62.1% | |
| 2025 | 190 | +23.4% |
For the 15 building fires Blythewood departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 316 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 | 75 | 23.7% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 72 | 22.8% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 28 | 8.9% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 23 | 7.3% | |
| 5 | Wildland, woods | 20 | 6.3% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 18 | 5.7% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 8 | 2.5% | |
| 8 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 8 | 2.5% | |
| 9 | Other | 7 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 6 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 51 | 16.1% |
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 Blythewood mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 193 | 61.1% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 20 | 6.3% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 18 | 5.7% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 13 | 4.1% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 11 | 3.5% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 8 | 2.5% | |
| 7 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 7 | 2.2% | |
| 8 | Fireworks | 6 | 1.9% | |
| 9 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 5 | 1.6% | |
| 10 | Match | 5 | 1.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 30 | 9.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Blythewood departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 96% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $500,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $364,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $100,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $20,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Blythewood sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 13,439 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,684 | 42.3 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,484 | 16.3 mi | |
| 2007 | Debris and open burning | 985 | 19.9 mi | |
| 1993 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 950 | 48.1 mi | |
| 1993 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 650 | 46.6 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 382 | 33.8 mi | |
| 1997 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 350 | 25.1 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 49.3 mi | |
| 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 290 | 26.5 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 280 | 47.3 mi | |
| 2004 | Smoking | 260 | 46.9 mi | |
| 1993 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 47.5 mi |
Top 3 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 Blythewood. 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.