In 2025, fire departments serving Cheraw responded to 194 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $750K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 52% of all calls.
Feb peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
747 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $4.8M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 136 | — | |
| 2022 | 110 | -19.1% | |
| 2023 | 146 | +32.7% | |
| 2024 | 161 | +10.3% | |
| 2025 | 194 | +20.5% |
For the 32 building fires Cheraw departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 291 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 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 79 | 27.1% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 32 | 11.0% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 24 | 8.2% | |
| 4 | Wildland, woods | 24 | 8.2% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 23 | 7.9% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 15 | 5.2% | |
| 7 | Outside area, other | 12 | 4.1% | |
| 8 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 10 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 7 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Wall surface: exterior | 7 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 58 | 19.9% |
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 Cheraw mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 116 | 39.9% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 29 | 10.0% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 25 | 8.6% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 16 | 5.5% | |
| 5 | Cigarette lighter | 16 | 5.5% | |
| 6 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 14 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 14 | 4.8% | |
| 8 | Fireworks | 11 | 3.8% | |
| 9 | Radiated heat from another fire | 8 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 7 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 35 | 12.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Cheraw departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 81% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $750,000 | Arcing, shorted electrical equipment | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $420,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $50,000 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Cheraw sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 15,027 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,358 | 29.3 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,181 | 31.5 mi | |
| 2016 | Equipment and vehicle use | 969 | 30.0 mi | |
| 1993 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 950 | 24.8 mi | |
| 1997 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 800 | 10.4 mi | |
| 1993 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 730 | 21.9 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 697 | 31.4 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 669 | 28.3 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 586 | 29.5 mi | |
| 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 547 | 28.7 mi | |
| 1993 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 541 | 39.1 mi | |
| 1993 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 500 | 46.9 mi |
Top 8 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 Cheraw. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Cheraw.
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.