In 2025, fire departments serving Clemson responded to 84 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $650K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 46% of all calls.
Oct peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
456 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $2.7M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 79 | — | |
| 2022 | 98 | +24.1% | |
| 2023 | 89 | -9.2% | |
| 2024 | 106 | +19.1% | |
| 2025 | 84 | -20.8% |
For the 7 building fires Clemson departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 157 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 | Cooking area, kitchen | 28 | 17.8% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 27 | 17.2% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 19 | 12.1% | |
| 4 | Wildland, woods | 17 | 10.8% | |
| 5 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 11 | 7.0% | |
| 6 | Outside area, other | 10 | 6.4% | |
| 7 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 6 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 6 | 3.8% | |
| 9 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 3 | 1.9% | |
| 10 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 3 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 27 | 17.2% |
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 Clemson mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 44 | 28.0% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 35 | 22.3% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 15 | 9.6% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 13 | 8.3% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 8 | 5.1% | |
| 6 | Cigarette lighter | 6 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Cigarette | 5 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Chemical reaction | 5 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 19 | 12.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Clemson departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $650,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $10,000 | Outside equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $6,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $3,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $1,500 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $1,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Clemson sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 44,943 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 24,725 | 45.3 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 10,623 | 24.5 mi | |
| 1993 | Natural | 1,050 | 25.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 889 | 33.4 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 800 | 25.0 mi | |
| 2017 | Recreation and ceremony | 570 | 26.5 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 500 | 45.0 mi | |
| 2014 | Recreation and ceremony | 468 | 25.3 mi | |
| 2008 | Natural | 440 | 40.4 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 407 | 47.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 392 | 43.5 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 353 | 49.4 mi |
Top 4 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 Clemson. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Clemson.
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.