In 2025, fire departments serving Greenwood responded to 74 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $30K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Vehicle accident, general cleanup lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 77% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
351 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $2.2M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 51 | — | |
| 2022 | 87 | +70.6% | |
| 2023 | 70 | -19.5% | |
| 2024 | 69 | -1.4% | |
| 2025 | 74 | +7.2% |
For the 11 building fires Greenwood departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 58 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 | 38 | 65.5% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 5 | 8.6% | |
| 3 | Other | 3 | 5.2% | |
| 4 | Storage area, other | 2 | 3.4% | |
| 5 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 2 | 3.4% | |
| 6 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 3.4% | |
| 7 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 1.7% | |
| 8 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 1 | 1.7% | |
| 9 | Wall assembly | 1 | 1.7% | |
| 10 | Vehicle area, other | 1 | 1.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 2 | 3.4% |
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 Greenwood mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 49 | 84.5% | |
| 2 | Chemical reaction | 2 | 3.4% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 1 | 1.7% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 1.7% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 1.7% | |
| 6 | Incendiary device | 1 | 1.7% | |
| 7 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 1.7% | |
| 8 | Match | 1 | 1.7% | |
| 9 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 1 | 1.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Greenwood departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $30,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $1,500 | Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $750 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Greenwood sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 36,815 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Debris and open burning | 3,208 | 34.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,910 | 36.4 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,124 | 37.0 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,066 | 36.6 mi | |
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,000 | 28.6 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,800 | 37.3 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,756 | 36.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,700 | 34.8 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,596 | 38.3 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,580 | 36.2 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,535 | 43.9 mi | |
| 2020 | Natural | 1,518 | 44.0 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 19950 | 351 |
Six Delaware cities with population within ±25% of Greenwood. 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.