In 2025, fire departments serving Bowman responded to 80 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $10K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Aircraft standby lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 66% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Jul dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
409 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $155K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 86 | — | |
| 2022 | 60 | -30.2% | |
| 2023 | 77 | +28.3% | |
| 2024 | 106 | +37.7% | |
| 2025 | 80 | -24.5% |
For the 9 building fires Bowman departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 103 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 | 48 | 46.6% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 16 | 15.5% | |
| 3 | Function area, other | 6 | 5.8% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 5 | 4.9% | |
| 5 | Equipment or service area, other | 4 | 3.9% | |
| 6 | Vehicle area, other | 4 | 3.9% | |
| 7 | Outside area, other | 4 | 3.9% | |
| 8 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 3 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Other | 2 | 1.9% | |
| 10 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 9 | 8.7% |
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 Bowman mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 60 | 58.3% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 18 | 17.5% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 8 | 7.8% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 5 | 4.9% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 2.9% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 3 | 2.9% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 1 | 1.0% | |
| 8 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 1.0% | |
| 9 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 1.0% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 1.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 2 | 1.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Bowman departments in 2025. These 6 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $10,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $5,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Bowman sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 23,582 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 | 32.1 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,484 | 47.0 mi | |
| 2002 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,922 | 46.4 mi | |
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,695 | 47.5 mi | |
| 2002 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,600 | 44.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 1,247 | 22.0 mi | |
| 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,200 | 38.1 mi | |
| 2017 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,115 | 48.0 mi | |
| 1994 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 862 | 48.3 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 709 | 25.2 mi | |
| 1993 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 650 | 26.2 mi | |
| 1997 | Arson/incendiarism | 599 | 49.4 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 Bowman. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Bowman.
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.