In 2025, fire departments serving Columbia responded to 332 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100 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 57% of all calls.
Oct peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,343 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $933K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 221 | — | |
| 2022 | 188 | -14.9% | |
| 2023 | 281 | +49.5% | |
| 2024 | 321 | +14.2% | |
| 2025 | 332 | +3.4% |
For the 7 building fires Columbia departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 187 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 | 49 | 26.2% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 43 | 23.0% | |
| 3 | Wildland, woods | 15 | 8.0% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 13 | 7.0% | |
| 5 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 13 | 7.0% | |
| 6 | Other | 9 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 7 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Cooking area, kitchen | 6 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 4 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 4 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 24 | 12.8% |
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 Columbia mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 116 | 62.0% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 26 | 13.9% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 7 | 3.7% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 7 | 3.7% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 7 | 3.7% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 4 | 2.1% | |
| 7 | Cigarette lighter | 4 | 2.1% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 1.1% | |
| 9 | Match | 2 | 1.1% | |
| 10 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 2 | 1.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 10 | 5.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Columbia departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100 | Natural vegetation fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $1 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Columbia sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,657 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 522 | 42.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Recreation and ceremony | 500 | 14.0 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 461 | 23.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 431 | 33.0 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 408 | 28.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 344 | 45.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 150 | 44.3 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 100 | 28.8 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 76 | 33.1 mi | |
| 2019 | Equipment and vehicle use | 67 | 47.2 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 59 | 13.8 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 55 | 15.5 mi |
Top 6 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Maryland cities with population within ±25% of Columbia. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
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.