In 2025, fire departments serving Dearing responded to 49 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $76K 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 65% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
200 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $193K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 39 | — | |
| 2022 | 41 | +5.1% | |
| 2023 | 38 | -7.3% | |
| 2024 | 33 | -13.2% | |
| 2025 | 49 | +48.5% |
For the 7 building fires Dearing departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 113 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 | Outside area, other | 22 | 19.5% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 18 | 15.9% | |
| 3 | Wildland, woods | 14 | 12.4% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 12 | 10.6% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 11 | 9.7% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 8 | 7.1% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 7 | 6.2% | |
| 8 | Other | 5 | 4.4% | |
| 9 | Vehicle area, other | 3 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 2 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 11 | 9.7% |
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 Dearing mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 51 | 45.1% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 10 | 8.8% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 10 | 8.8% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 6 | 5.3% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 6 | 5.3% | |
| 6 | Cigarette lighter | 6 | 5.3% | |
| 7 | Arcing | 5 | 4.4% | |
| 8 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 4 | 3.5% | |
| 9 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 1.8% | |
| 10 | Match | 2 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 11 | 9.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Dearing departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $75,657 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $1 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $1 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $1 | Camper or recreational vehicle (RV) fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $1 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $1 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $1 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Dearing sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 7,423 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Debris and open burning | 950 | 43.3 mi | |
| 2002 | Debris and open burning | 547 | 45.6 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 481 | 48.0 mi | |
| 1994 | Debris and open burning | 468 | 45.0 mi | |
| 2012 | Natural | 445 | 27.8 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 310 | 49.5 mi | |
| 1999 | Natural | 277 | 26.3 mi | |
| 2002 | Debris and open burning | 259 | 27.8 mi | |
| 1995 | Natural | 253 | 36.7 mi | |
| 2007 | Debris and open burning | 250 | 45.0 mi | |
| 2002 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 250 | 34.6 mi | |
| 2018 | Arson/incendiarism | 238 | 37.0 mi |
Top 4 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 Dearing. 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.