In 2025, fire departments serving Daufuskie Island responded to 19 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $150K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Arcing, shorted electrical equipment lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 58% of all calls.
May peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
87 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $456K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 18 | — | |
| 2022 | 11 | -38.9% | |
| 2023 | 23 | +109.1% | |
| 2024 | 16 | -30.4% | |
| 2025 | 19 | +18.8% |
For the 1 building fires Daufuskie Island departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 42 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 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 13 | 31.0% | |
| 2 | Wildland, woods | 12 | 28.6% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 9.5% | |
| 4 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 2 | 4.8% | |
| 5 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 7 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 8 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Wall assembly | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 5 | 11.9% |
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 Daufuskie Island mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 12 | 28.6% | |
| 2 | Cigarette lighter | 5 | 11.9% | |
| 3 | Lightning | 4 | 9.5% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 7.1% | |
| 5 | Match | 3 | 7.1% | |
| 6 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 2 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 2 | 4.8% | |
| 8 | Heat source: other | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 8 | 19.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Daufuskie Island departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $1,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Daufuskie Island sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 14,296 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Debris and open burning | 1,245 | 13.2 mi | |
| 2007 | Natural | 1,076 | 17.4 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 1,016 | 12.5 mi | |
| 2000 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 916 | 35.3 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 827 | 41.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 791 | 49.9 mi | |
| 1999 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 789 | 44.2 mi | |
| 1994 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 761 | 11.4 mi | |
| 2007 | Debris and open burning | 663 | 41.3 mi | |
| 2010 | Natural | 651 | 48.8 mi | |
| 1994 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 571 | 30.0 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 487 | 41.1 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 29915 | 87 |
Six South Carolina cities with population within ±25% of Daufuskie Island. 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.