In 2025, fire departments serving Columbia responded to 159 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $125K 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 60% of all calls.
Feb peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
825 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $2.4M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 174 | — | |
| 2022 | 198 | +13.8% | |
| 2023 | 145 | -26.8% | |
| 2024 | 149 | +2.8% | |
| 2025 | 159 | +6.7% |
For the 37 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 96 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 | 14 | 14.6% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 14 | 14.6% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 11 | 11.5% | |
| 4 | Other | 7 | 7.3% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 6 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 6 | 6.2% | |
| 7 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 4 | 4.2% | |
| 8 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 3 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Railroad right of way: on or near | 3 | 3.1% | |
| 10 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 3 | 3.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 25 | 26.0% |
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 | 43 | 44.8% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 8 | 8.3% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 7 | 7.3% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 7 | 7.3% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 7 | 7.3% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 6 | 6.2% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 4 | 4.2% | |
| 8 | Arcing | 4 | 4.2% | |
| 9 | Cigarette | 2 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Chemical reaction | 2 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 6 | 6.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Columbia departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $125,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $23,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $10,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $1,500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $1,000 | Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Columbia sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
5 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 2 | |
| 30-39 | 1 | |
| 40-49 | 0 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,700 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 935 | 30.2 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 741 | 40.6 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 109 | 47.6 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 28.1 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 90 | 29.7 mi | |
| 2008 | Debris and open burning | 75 | 30.8 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 74 | 35.8 mi | |
| 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 59 | 36.9 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 55 | 41.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 49 | 38.0 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 35 | 37.7 mi | |
| 2007 | Arson/incendiarism | 33 | 49.6 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 Pennsylvania cities with population within ±25% of Columbia. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
3 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Columbia.
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.