In 2025, fire departments serving Eclectic responded to 47 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $24K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Grass fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 55% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Apr dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
311 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $622K cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 45 | — | |
| 2022 | 76 | +68.9% | |
| 2023 | 79 | +3.9% | |
| 2024 | 64 | -19.0% | |
| 2025 | 47 | -26.6% |
For the 4 building fires Eclectic departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 151 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 | 50 | 33.1% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 25 | 16.6% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 18 | 11.9% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 11 | 7.3% | |
| 5 | Wildland, woods | 10 | 6.6% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 8 | 5.3% | |
| 7 | Other | 3 | 2.0% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 3 | 2.0% | |
| 9 | Vehicle area, other | 3 | 2.0% | |
| 10 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 1.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 18 | 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 Eclectic mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 67 | 44.4% | |
| 2 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 37 | 24.5% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 11 | 7.3% | |
| 4 | Lightning | 6 | 4.0% | |
| 5 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 5 | 3.3% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 4 | 2.6% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 4 | 2.6% | |
| 8 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 3 | 2.0% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 1.3% | |
| 10 | Fireworks | 2 | 1.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 10 | 6.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Eclectic departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 99% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $23,660 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $12,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $1,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $1,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $1,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $500 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $500 | Outside storage fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $250 | Grass fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Eclectic sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
11 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 2 | |
| 20-29 | 1 | |
| 30-39 | 3 | |
| 40-49 | 1 | |
| 50-59 | 2 | |
| 60-69 | 2 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 13,277 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Natural | 1,800 | 44.4 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,066 | 37.0 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,005 | 24.6 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 657 | 46.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 570 | 43.4 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 504 | 37.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Equipment and vehicle use | 502 | 39.0 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 481 | 20.8 mi | |
| 2002 | Arson/incendiarism | 480 | 42.4 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 471 | 49.0 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 450 | 23.2 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 450 | 43.0 mi |
Top 5 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 Eclectic. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Eclectic.
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.