In 2025, fire departments serving Ecru responded to 32 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $35K 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 72% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Apr dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
165 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $936K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 21 | — | |
| 2022 | 21 | +0.0% | |
| 2023 | 47 | +123.8% | |
| 2024 | 44 | -6.4% | |
| 2025 | 32 | -27.3% |
For the 8 building fires Ecru departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 77 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 | 38 | 49.4% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 13 | 16.9% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 6 | 7.8% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 3.9% | |
| 5 | Equipment or service area, other | 2 | 2.6% | |
| 6 | Structural area, other | 2 | 2.6% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 2 | 2.6% | |
| 8 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 2 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Other | 1 | 1.3% | |
| 10 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 1.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 7 | 9.1% |
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 Ecru mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 49 | 63.6% | |
| 2 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 11 | 14.3% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 5 | 6.5% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 3.9% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 2 | 2.6% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 1.3% | |
| 7 | Arcing | 1 | 1.3% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 1.3% | |
| 9 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 1.3% | |
| 10 | Candle | 1 | 1.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 2 | 2.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Ecru departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $35,000 | Special outside fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $40 | Grass fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Ecru sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 20,627 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,826 | 22.4 mi | |
| 1996 | Smoking | 1,620 | 31.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,344 | 49.1 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,200 | 44.7 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,130 | 32.9 mi | |
| 1996 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1,092 | 26.9 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,007 | 42.1 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,005 | 22.5 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 1,000 | 19.7 mi | |
| 1993 | Arson/incendiarism | 891 | 30.3 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 870 | 35.9 mi | |
| 1993 | Debris and open burning | 770 | 37.4 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 | 38841 | 165 |
Six Mississippi cities with population within ±25% of Ecru. 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.