In 2025, fire departments serving Columbiana responded to 60 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $53K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 63% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
156 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $150K cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 8 | — | |
| 2022 | 44 | — | |
| 2023* | 14 | — | |
| 2024 | 30 | — | |
| 2025 | 60 | +100.0% |
* Well below Columbiana's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.
For the 6 building fires Columbiana departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 52 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 | Wildland, woods | 9 | 17.3% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 9 | 17.3% | |
| 3 | Other | 7 | 13.5% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 6 | 11.5% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 5 | 9.6% | |
| 6 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 2 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 2 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Function area, other | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 9 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 10 | Storage area, other | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 9 | 17.3% |
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 Columbiana mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 28 | 53.8% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 4 | 7.7% | |
| 3 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 4 | 7.7% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 3 | 5.8% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 5.8% | |
| 6 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Multiple heat sources including multiple ignitions | 2 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Explosive, fireworks, other | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 9 | Fireworks | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 10 | Match | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 3 | 5.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Columbiana departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 99% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $52,500 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $10,000 | Forest, woods or wildland fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $8,000 | Self-propelled motor home or recreational vehicle | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $1,500 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $1,500 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Columbiana sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 30,589 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,108 | 46.1 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 2,950 | 31.7 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,784 | 44.6 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,590 | 34.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,229 | 46.9 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,925 | 45.1 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 1,800 | 6.3 mi | |
| 1996 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,540 | 21.7 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 1,100 | 14.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,066 | 28.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 988 | 41.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 932 | 46.6 mi |
Top 3 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Alabama cities with population within ±25% of Columbiana. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Columbiana.
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.