In 2025, fire departments serving Galveston responded to 19 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $253K 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 63% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
91 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $1.7M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 5 | — | |
| 2022 | 20 | — | |
| 2023 | 21 | +5.0% | |
| 2024 | 26 | +23.8% | |
| 2025 | 19 | -26.9% |
* Well below Galveston'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 7 building fires Galveston departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 26 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 | 3 | 11.5% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 7.7% | |
| 3 | Structural area, other | 2 | 7.7% | |
| 4 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 2 | 7.7% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 7.7% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 2 | 7.7% | |
| 7 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 9 | Storage room, area, tank, or bin | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 10 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 9 | 34.6% |
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 Galveston mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 16 | 61.5% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 7.7% | |
| 3 | Cigarette | 2 | 7.7% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Arcing | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 9 | Lightning | 1 | 3.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Galveston departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $252,800 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $10,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Galveston sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 2 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 35 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Recreation and ceremony | 20 | 36.3 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 15 | 35.1 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 Indiana cities with population within ±25% of Galveston. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Galveston.
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.