In 2025, fire departments serving Fripp Island responded to 19 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $3.0M 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 74% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Mar dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
29 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $6.0M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 4 | — | |
| 2022* | 2 | — | |
| 2023* | 3 | — | |
| 2024* | 1 | — | |
| 2025 | 19 | — |
* Well below Fripp Island'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 9 building fires Fripp Island departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 11 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 | Wall surface: exterior | 3 | 27.3% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 3 | 27.3% | |
| 3 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 2 | 18.2% | |
| 4 | Other | 1 | 9.1% | |
| 5 | Storage room, area, tank, or bin | 1 | 9.1% | |
| 6 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 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 Fripp Island mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 5 | 45.5% | |
| 2 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 4 | 36.4% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 9.1% | |
| 4 | Multiple heat sources including multiple ignitions | 1 | 9.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Fripp Island departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $3,000,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $796,600 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $776,900 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 4 | $714,900 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 5 | $655,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 6 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $1,000 | Special outside fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Fripp Island sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 10,806 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Debris and open burning | 1,245 | 36.9 mi | |
| 2007 | Natural | 1,076 | 42.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 1,016 | 36.8 mi | |
| 1994 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 761 | 36.2 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 709 | 49.6 mi | |
| 1994 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 571 | 38.0 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 480 | 27.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 435 | 36.4 mi | |
| 2002 | Arson/incendiarism | 326 | 41.4 mi | |
| 2001 | Natural | 321 | 37.5 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 320 | 47.8 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 306 | 46.2 mi |
Top 2 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 Fripp Island. 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.