In 2025, fire departments serving Helena responded to 110 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $350K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 54% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
252 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $773K cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 4 | — | |
| 2022* | 5 | — | |
| 2023* | 8 | — | |
| 2024 | 125 | — | |
| 2025 | 110 | -12.0% |
* Well below Helena'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 14 building fires Helena departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 61 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 | 13 | 21.3% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 9 | 14.8% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 6 | 9.8% | |
| 4 | Other | 5 | 8.2% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 4 | 6.6% | |
| 6 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 4.9% | |
| 7 | Storage area, other | 2 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 2 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 2 | 3.3% | |
| 10 | Wall surface: exterior | 2 | 3.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 13 | 21.3% |
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 Helena mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 33 | 54.1% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 6.6% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 4 | 6.6% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 4.9% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 4.9% | |
| 6 | Cigarette lighter | 3 | 4.9% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 2 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 2 | 3.3% | |
| 10 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 2 | 3.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 3 | 4.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Helena departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $350,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $132,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $5,000 | Chimney or flue fire, confined to chimney or flue | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $500 | Outside equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $100 | Grass fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $1 | Natural vegetation fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Helena sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 27,523 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 | 15.3 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,784 | 27.9 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,590 | 35.0 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,925 | 35.3 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 1,800 | 22.3 mi | |
| 1996 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,540 | 25.9 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,308 | 39.5 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,262 | 40.1 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 1,100 | 19.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,066 | 44.7 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 890 | 48.4 mi | |
| 2019 | Arson/incendiarism | 721 | 40.8 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 Helena. 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.