In 2025, fire departments serving Cataula responded to 29 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 97% of all calls.
Nov peaks. Apr dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
185 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $1.8M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 42 | — | |
| 2022 | 45 | +7.1% | |
| 2023 | 32 | -28.9% | |
| 2024 | 37 | +15.6% | |
| 2025 | 29 | -21.6% |
For the 8 building fires Cataula departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 49 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 13 | 26.5% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 10 | 20.4% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 5 | 10.2% | |
| 4 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 4 | 8.2% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 4 | 8.2% | |
| 6 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 2 | 4.1% | |
| 7 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 2 | 4.1% | |
| 8 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 2 | 4.1% | |
| 9 | Other | 1 | 2.0% | |
| 10 | Entrance way, lobby | 1 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 5 | 10.2% |
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 Cataula mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 23 | 46.9% | |
| 2 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 6 | 12.2% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 5 | 10.2% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 8.2% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 4 | 8.2% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 3 | 6.1% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 1 | 2.0% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 2.0% | |
| 9 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 2.0% | |
| 10 | Conducted heat from another fire | 1 | 2.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Cataula departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 98% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $80,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $80,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $60,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Cataula sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 8,024 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 | 22.1 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 504 | 47.2 mi | |
| 2002 | Arson/incendiarism | 480 | 42.2 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 465 | 40.6 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 450 | 39.4 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 400 | 29.8 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 375 | 39.3 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 356 | 27.9 mi | |
| 2008 | Arson/incendiarism | 348 | 27.3 mi | |
| 2015 | Arson/incendiarism | 341 | 38.4 mi | |
| 2013 | Arson/incendiarism | 340 | 46.3 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 314 | 34.3 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 Georgia cities with population within ±25% of Cataula. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Cataula.
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.