In 2025, fire departments serving Graysville responded to 30 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Grass fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 57% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
85 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $638K cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 3 | — | |
| 2022* | 6 | — | |
| 2023* | 4 | — | |
| 2024 | 42 | — | |
| 2025 | 30 | -28.6% |
* Well below Graysville'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 3 building fires Graysville departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 41 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 | 9 | 22.0% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 6 | 14.6% | |
| 3 | Other | 3 | 7.3% | |
| 4 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 4.9% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 4.9% | |
| 6 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 2 | 4.9% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 4.9% | |
| 8 | Outside area, other | 2 | 4.9% | |
| 9 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 2 | 4.9% | |
| 10 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 2 | 4.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 9 | 22.0% |
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 Graysville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 19 | 46.3% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 4 | 9.8% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 3 | 7.3% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 2 | 4.9% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 4.9% | |
| 6 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 4.9% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 4.9% | |
| 8 | Cigarette lighter | 2 | 4.9% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Fireworks | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 3 | 7.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Graysville departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Graysville sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 22,770 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 2,950 | 17.9 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,784 | 25.8 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 1,800 | 44.3 mi | |
| 1996 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,540 | 28.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,308 | 13.3 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 1,100 | 28.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 919 | 37.3 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 890 | 22.6 mi | |
| 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 700 | 7.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Equipment and vehicle use | 660 | 7.9 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 657 | 45.2 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 631 | 33.1 mi |
Top 4 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 Graysville. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Graysville.
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.