In 2025, fire departments serving Elba responded to 89 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Aircraft standby lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 59% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
495 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $3K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 64 | — | |
| 2022 | 116 | +81.2% | |
| 2023 | 109 | -6.0% | |
| 2024 | 117 | +7.3% | |
| 2025 | 89 | -23.9% |
For the 6 building fires Elba departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 222 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 | 69 | 31.1% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 53 | 23.9% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 17 | 7.7% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 16 | 7.2% | |
| 5 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 10 | 4.5% | |
| 6 | Wildland, woods | 10 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Other | 8 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 5 | 2.3% | |
| 9 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 5 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 3 | 1.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 26 | 11.7% |
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 Elba mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 124 | 55.9% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 15 | 6.8% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 13 | 5.9% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 10 | 4.5% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 7 | 3.2% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 7 | 3.2% | |
| 7 | Cigarette lighter | 7 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 1.8% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 4 | 1.8% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 4 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 27 | 12.2% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Elba sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 9,751 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Natural | 745 | 49.7 mi | |
| 2015 | Arson/incendiarism | 678 | 30.8 mi | |
| 2019 | Arson/incendiarism | 589 | 29.7 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 566 | 19.7 mi | |
| 2020 | Arson/incendiarism | 537 | 48.4 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 478 | 50.0 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 471 | 43.1 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 447 | 45.6 mi | |
| 2006 | Natural | 412 | 42.2 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 408 | 47.9 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 400 | 47.1 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 393 | 47.6 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 Elba. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Elba.
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.