In 2025, fire departments serving Columbia responded to 411 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $150K 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 51% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,905 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $12.0M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 254 | — | |
| 2022 | 384 | +51.2% | |
| 2023 | 414 | +7.8% | |
| 2024 | 442 | +6.8% | |
| 2025 | 411 | -7.0% |
For the 59 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 630 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 | 121 | 19.2% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 86 | 13.7% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 83 | 13.2% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 67 | 10.6% | |
| 5 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 27 | 4.3% | |
| 6 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 18 | 2.9% | |
| 7 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 16 | 2.5% | |
| 8 | Outside area, other | 16 | 2.5% | |
| 9 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 13 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 13 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 170 | 27.0% |
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 | 264 | 41.9% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 73 | 11.6% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 63 | 10.0% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 29 | 4.6% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 25 | 4.0% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 24 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Cigarette lighter | 17 | 2.7% | |
| 8 | Heat source: other | 15 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Cigarette | 15 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 13 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 92 | 14.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Columbia departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 50% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $150,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $125,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $75,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $75,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $69,400 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $60,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $60,000 | Camper or recreational vehicle (RV) fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Columbia sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
38 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 | 11 | |
| 30-39 | 4 | |
| 40-49 | 3 | |
| 50-59 | 1 | |
| 60-69 | 4 | |
| 70-79 | 1 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 5,534 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Natural | 585 | 40.2 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 516 | 36.4 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 328 | 44.4 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 312 | 22.8 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 264 | 42.4 mi | |
| 1995 | Smoking | 250 | 46.5 mi | |
| 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 240 | 47.4 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 235 | 40.0 mi | |
| 2015 | Arson/incendiarism | 235 | 19.9 mi | |
| 2001 | Equipment and vehicle use | 225 | 42.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 218 | 31.0 mi | |
| 2007 | Arson/incendiarism | 204 | 46.5 mi |
Top 5 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Tennessee cities with population within ±25% of Columbia. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
5 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.