In 2025, fire departments serving Cedar Bluff responded to 49 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $150K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Accident, potential accident, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 71% of all calls.
Feb peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
360 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $323K cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 43 | — | |
| 2022 | 78 | — | |
| 2023 | 92 | +17.9% | |
| 2024 | 98 | +6.5% | |
| 2025 | 49 | -50.0% |
* Well below Cedar Bluff'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 0 building fires Cedar Bluff departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 151 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 | 97 | 64.2% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 12 | 7.9% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 7 | 4.6% | |
| 4 | Wildland, woods | 7 | 4.6% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 4 | 2.6% | |
| 6 | Function area, other | 3 | 2.0% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 2.0% | |
| 8 | Storage area, other | 3 | 2.0% | |
| 9 | Wall assembly | 3 | 2.0% | |
| 10 | Other | 2 | 1.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 10 | 6.6% |
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 Cedar Bluff mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 127 | 84.1% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 5 | 3.3% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 2.0% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 2.0% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 2 | 1.3% | |
| 6 | Cigarette lighter | 2 | 1.3% | |
| 7 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 2 | 1.3% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 0.7% | |
| 9 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 0.7% | |
| 10 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 0.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 4 | 2.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Cedar Bluff departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $150,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Cedar Bluff sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 34,032 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,321 | 26.1 mi | |
| 2007 | Debris and open burning | 3,000 | 15.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 2,836 | 34.7 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,500 | 40.3 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 2,083 | 37.3 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,000 | 12.5 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,000 | 30.5 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,636 | 13.4 mi | |
| 2006 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 1,448 | 14.9 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,350 | 25.1 mi | |
| 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,078 | 38.0 mi | |
| 2007 | Debris and open burning | 1,010 | 48.6 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 Alabama cities with population within ±25% of Cedar Bluff. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Cedar Bluff.
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.