In 2025, fire departments serving Coward responded to 36 fire and hazmat incidents . 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 72% of all calls.
Feb peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
249 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $500 cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 48 | — | |
| 2022 | 66 | +37.5% | |
| 2023 | 56 | -15.2% | |
| 2024 | 43 | -23.2% | |
| 2025 | 36 | -16.3% |
For the 1 building fires Coward departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 165 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 | 71 | 43.0% | |
| 2 | Wildland, woods | 34 | 20.6% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 12 | 7.3% | |
| 4 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 11 | 6.7% | |
| 5 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 11 | 6.7% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 8 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 3 | 1.8% | |
| 8 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 1.8% | |
| 9 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 1.8% | |
| 10 | Railroad right of way: on or near | 3 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 6 | 3.6% |
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 Coward mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 125 | 75.8% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 21 | 12.7% | |
| 3 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 6 | 3.6% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 2 | 1.2% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 1.2% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 1.2% | |
| 7 | Arcing | 2 | 1.2% | |
| 8 | Molten, hot material | 1 | 0.6% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 0.6% | |
| 10 | Lightning | 1 | 0.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 2 | 1.2% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Coward sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 46,374 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Debris and open burning | 19,130 | 48.6 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,684 | 43.5 mi | |
| 1997 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,150 | 37.0 mi | |
| 2002 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,922 | 44.4 mi | |
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,695 | 46.1 mi | |
| 2002 | Debris and open burning | 1,648 | 47.4 mi | |
| 2002 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,600 | 38.7 mi | |
| 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,200 | 32.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Fireworks | 1,155 | 49.8 mi | |
| 2009 | Debris and open burning | 1,089 | 45.4 mi | |
| 1993 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 950 | 39.9 mi | |
| 1994 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 862 | 28.6 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 South Carolina cities with population within ±25% of Coward. 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.