In 2025, fire departments serving Goodwater responded to 32 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $40K 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 72% of all calls.
Feb peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
123 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $541K cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 2 | — | |
| 2022* | 12 | — | |
| 2023 | 36 | — | |
| 2024 | 41 | +13.9% | |
| 2025 | 32 | -22.0% |
* Well below Goodwater'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 11 building fires Goodwater departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 55 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 | 34 | 61.8% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 3 | 5.5% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 3 | 5.5% | |
| 4 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 3.6% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 3.6% | |
| 6 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 3.6% | |
| 7 | Wildland, woods | 2 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 9 | Duct: hvac, cable, exhaust, heating, or AC | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 10 | Heating room or area, water heater area | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 4 | 7.3% |
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 Goodwater mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 41 | 74.5% | |
| 2 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 4 | 7.3% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 3 | 5.5% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 3.6% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 3.6% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 7 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 8 | Lightning | 1 | 1.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Goodwater departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $40,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Goodwater sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 24,290 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,108 | 26.2 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,500 | 44.8 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,229 | 29.9 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 1,800 | 28.9 mi | |
| 1996 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,540 | 40.0 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 1,100 | 38.2 mi | |
| 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,078 | 46.5 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,066 | 8.5 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 988 | 22.8 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 932 | 26.1 mi | |
| 2016 | Equipment and vehicle use | 800 | 44.5 mi | |
| 1996 | Debris and open burning | 750 | 39.5 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 Alabama cities with population within ±25% of Goodwater. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Goodwater.
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.