In 2025, fire departments serving Clinton responded to 188 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $150K 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 71% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
860 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $5.1M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 125 | — | |
| 2022 | 127 | +1.6% | |
| 2023 | 209 | +64.6% | |
| 2024 | 211 | +1.0% | |
| 2025 | 188 | -10.9% |
For the 14 building fires Clinton departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 205 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 | 48 | 23.4% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 27 | 13.2% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 25 | 12.2% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 20 | 9.8% | |
| 5 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 8 | 3.9% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 7 | 3.4% | |
| 7 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 7 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Wall assembly | 5 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 4 | 2.0% | |
| 10 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 4 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 50 | 24.4% |
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 Clinton mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 82 | 40.0% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 21 | 10.2% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 18 | 8.8% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 17 | 8.3% | |
| 5 | Molten, hot material | 11 | 5.4% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 9 | 4.4% | |
| 7 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 6 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Heat, spark from friction | 5 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Cigarette | 5 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Lightning | 5 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 26 | 12.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Clinton departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 80% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $80,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $64,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $50,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $50,000 | Outside equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $50,000 | Outside equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Clinton sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 12,741 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Debris and open burning | 4,152 | 9.0 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 682 | 45.8 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 600 | 41.8 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 550 | 32.5 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 510 | 42.2 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 493 | 24.4 mi | |
| 1993 | Arson/incendiarism | 486 | 41.2 mi | |
| 1998 | Debris and open burning | 473 | 48.7 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 450 | 27.9 mi | |
| 2007 | Arson/incendiarism | 378 | 45.0 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 363 | 43.9 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 350 | 32.7 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 | 39056 | 860 |
Six Mississippi cities with population within ±25% of Clinton. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Clinton.
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.