In 2025, fire departments serving Edgefield responded to 93 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $50K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Hazardous condition, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 82% of all calls.
May peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
191 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $268K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 41 | — | |
| 2022* | 13 | — | |
| 2023* | 20 | — | |
| 2024 | 24 | — | |
| 2025 | 93 | +287.5% |
* Well below Edgefield's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.
For the 2 building fires Edgefield departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 8 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 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 3 | 37.5% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 2 | 25.0% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 2 | 25.0% | |
| 4 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 1 | 12.5% |
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 Edgefield mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 3 | 37.5% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 5 | Cigarette | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 6 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 1 | 12.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Edgefield departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 98% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $50,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $8,000 | Overheated motor | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $5,000 | Chimney or flue fire, confined to chimney or flue | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $5,000 | Chimney or flue fire, confined to chimney or flue | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $2,000 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $1,000 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $1,000 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $500 | Trash or rubbish fire, contained | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Edgefield sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 6,129 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 | 27.2 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 310 | 16.6 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 43.8 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 32.4 mi | |
| 2002 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 250 | 17.1 mi | |
| 2018 | Arson/incendiarism | 238 | 44.8 mi | |
| 1997 | Natural | 234 | 14.0 mi | |
| 1999 | Natural | 231 | 43.8 mi | |
| 2006 | Natural | 225 | 49.5 mi | |
| 1993 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 225 | 19.2 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 225 | 22.6 mi | |
| 2019 | Equipment and vehicle use | 220 | 13.2 mi |
Top 3 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 Edgefield. 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.