In 2025, fire departments serving Headland responded to 10 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K 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 90% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
55 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $538K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 5 | — | |
| 2022* | 6 | — | |
| 2023 | 11 | — | |
| 2024 | 23 | +109.1% | |
| 2025 | 10 | -56.5% |
* Well below Headland'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 5 building fires Headland departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 27 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 | 8 | 29.6% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 5 | 18.5% | |
| 3 | Other | 2 | 7.4% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 7.4% | |
| 5 | Exterior stairway, ramp, or fire escape | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 7 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Duct: hvac, cable, exhaust, heating, or AC | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 9 | Machinery room or area; elevator machinery room | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 10 | Vehicle area, other | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 4 | 14.8% |
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 Headland mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 13 | 48.1% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 5 | 18.5% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 3 | 11.1% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 7.4% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 7.4% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 7 | Chemical reaction | 1 | 3.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Headland departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $60,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $15,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Headland sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 6,544 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Debris and open burning | 563 | 43.2 mi | |
| 2006 | Natural | 476 | 33.1 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 471 | 49.0 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 421 | 48.0 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 312 | 16.8 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 311 | 39.4 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 300 | 49.6 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 290 | 29.1 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 270 | 34.5 mi | |
| 2007 | Arson/incendiarism | 240 | 41.1 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 237 | 24.1 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 228 | 45.5 mi |
Top 3 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 Headland. 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.