In 2025, fire departments serving Buena Vista responded to 111 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $50K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Authorized controlled burning lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 58% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Apr dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
342 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $651K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 27 | — | |
| 2022 | 72 | — | |
| 2023 | 48 | -33.3% | |
| 2024 | 84 | +75.0% | |
| 2025 | 111 | +32.1% |
* Well below Buena Vista'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 14 building fires Buena Vista departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 45 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 | 13 | 28.9% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 7 | 15.6% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 4 | 8.9% | |
| 4 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 4 | 8.9% | |
| 5 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 2 | 4.4% | |
| 6 | Ceiling & floor assembly, crawl space b/t stories | 2 | 4.4% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 4.4% | |
| 8 | Entrance way, lobby | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Function area, other | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 8 | 17.8% |
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 Buena Vista mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 19 | 42.2% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 8 | 17.8% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 5 | 11.1% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 4 | 8.9% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 4 | 8.9% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 8 | Candle | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 1 | 2.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Buena Vista departments in 2025. These 7 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $25,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $20,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $3,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $200 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Buena Vista sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 7,160 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 522 | 9.3 mi | |
| 2006 | Natural | 476 | 49.9 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 465 | 43.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 412 | 35.1 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 400 | 38.5 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 375 | 44.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 356 | 37.6 mi | |
| 2008 | Arson/incendiarism | 348 | 35.9 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 314 | 42.9 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 256 | 35.3 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 40.5 mi | |
| 1993 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 235 | 12.1 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 | 31803 | 342 |
Six Georgia cities with population within ±25% of Buena Vista. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Buena Vista.
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.