In 2025, fire departments serving Comer responded to 31 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $5K 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 55% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
137 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $20K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 10 | — | |
| 2022 | 36 | — | |
| 2023 | 38 | +5.6% | |
| 2024 | 22 | -42.1% | |
| 2025 | 31 | +40.9% |
* Well below Comer'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 Comer departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 25 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 | 7 | 28.0% | |
| 2 | Other | 3 | 12.0% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 3 | 12.0% | |
| 4 | Assembly or sales area, other | 2 | 8.0% | |
| 5 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 6 | Dining room, cafeteria bar area, beverage service | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 9 | Storage area, other | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 10 | Structural area, other | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 4 | 16.0% |
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 Comer mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 8 | 32.0% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 3 | 12.0% | |
| 3 | Cigarette lighter | 3 | 12.0% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 2 | 8.0% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 8.0% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 8.0% | |
| 7 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 9 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 10 | Incendiary device | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 1 | 4.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Comer departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Comer sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 5,742 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 800 | 43.7 mi | |
| 2017 | Recreation and ceremony | 570 | 48.2 mi | |
| 2002 | Debris and open burning | 547 | 18.4 mi | |
| 2007 | Recreation and ceremony | 325 | 32.1 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 301 | 11.9 mi | |
| 1999 | Natural | 277 | 42.2 mi | |
| 2007 | Debris and open burning | 250 | 24.7 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 215 | 46.4 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 202 | 33.5 mi | |
| 2008 | Arson/incendiarism | 190 | 49.3 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 170 | 46.0 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 163 | 23.1 mi |
Top 2 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Georgia cities with population within ±25% of Comer. 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.