In 2025, fire departments serving Elmore responded to 11 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $20K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Passenger vehicle fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 73% of all calls.
Oct peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
64 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $30K cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 13 | — | |
| 2022 | 18 | +38.5% | |
| 2023 | 11 | -38.9% | |
| 2024 | 11 | +0.0% | |
| 2025 | 11 | +0.0% |
For the 0 building fires Elmore departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 34 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 | 13 | 38.2% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 10 | 29.4% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 11.8% | |
| 4 | Other | 2 | 5.9% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 6 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 7 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Wildland, woods | 1 | 2.9% |
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 Elmore mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 27 | 79.4% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 2 | 5.9% | |
| 3 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 2 | 5.9% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 5 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 6 | Cigarette lighter | 1 | 2.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Elmore departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $20,000 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $4,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $1,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Elmore sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 15,143 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,590 | 37.8 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 1,800 | 40.8 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,066 | 44.5 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,005 | 32.1 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 657 | 39.2 mi | |
| 2006 | Natural | 565 | 37.9 mi | |
| 2016 | Equipment and vehicle use | 502 | 35.5 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 481 | 36.4 mi | |
| 2007 | Arson/incendiarism | 475 | 43.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 450 | 33.5 mi | |
| 1996 | Natural | 448 | 37.4 mi | |
| 2019 | Arson/incendiarism | 441 | 41.6 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 Alabama cities with population within ±25% of Elmore. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Elmore.
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.