In 2025, fire departments serving Hardeeville responded to 169 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $250K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 60% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
762 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $2.9M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 126 | — | |
| 2022 | 138 | +9.5% | |
| 2023 | 158 | +14.5% | |
| 2024 | 171 | +8.2% | |
| 2025 | 169 | -1.2% |
For the 19 building fires Hardeeville departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 423 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 | 75 | 17.7% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 73 | 17.3% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 62 | 14.7% | |
| 4 | Wildland, woods | 47 | 11.1% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 37 | 8.7% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 21 | 5.0% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 15 | 3.5% | |
| 8 | Cooking area, kitchen | 12 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 11 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Other | 9 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 61 | 14.4% |
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 Hardeeville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 211 | 49.9% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 37 | 8.7% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 19 | 4.5% | |
| 4 | Heat, spark from friction | 18 | 4.3% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 17 | 4.0% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 13 | 3.1% | |
| 7 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 12 | 2.8% | |
| 8 | Cigarette lighter | 12 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 11 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 11 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 62 | 14.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Hardeeville departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 84% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $250,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $185,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $130,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $80,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $80,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $75,000 | Camper or recreational vehicle (RV) fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $75,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Hardeeville sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 14,367 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 | 9.4 mi | |
| 2007 | Natural | 1,076 | 28.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 1,016 | 10.3 mi | |
| 2000 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 916 | 28.4 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 827 | 33.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 791 | 48.8 mi | |
| 1999 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 789 | 29.3 mi | |
| 1994 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 761 | 11.0 mi | |
| 2007 | Arson/incendiarism | 713 | 42.4 mi | |
| 2007 | Debris and open burning | 663 | 33.5 mi | |
| 1994 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 571 | 15.2 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 487 | 44.3 mi |
Top 8 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 Hardeeville. 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.