In 2025, fire departments serving Brilliant responded to 18 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 78% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
30 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 4 | — | |
| 2022* | 1 | — | |
| 2023* | 3 | — | |
| 2024 | 4 | — | |
| 2025 | 18 | +350.0% |
* Well below Brilliant'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 5 building fires Brilliant departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 10 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 | 3 | 30.0% | |
| 2 | Other | 2 | 20.0% | |
| 3 | Function area, other | 1 | 10.0% | |
| 4 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 1 | 10.0% | |
| 5 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 1 | 10.0% | |
| 6 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 1 | 10.0% | |
| 7 | Outside area, other | 1 | 10.0% |
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 Brilliant mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 7 | 70.0% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 1 | 10.0% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 10.0% | |
| 4 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 1 | 10.0% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Brilliant sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 20,769 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,784 | 48.1 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,003 | 28.6 mi | |
| 1996 | Smoking | 1,620 | 45.4 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,308 | 45.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,163 | 43.1 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,014 | 29.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 919 | 38.2 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 890 | 48.3 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 706 | 32.3 mi | |
| 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 700 | 48.9 mi | |
| 1999 | Equipment and vehicle use | 660 | 46.9 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 631 | 25.3 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 Alabama cities with population within ±25% of Brilliant. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Brilliant.
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.