In 2025, fire departments serving Hopkins responded to 136 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $200K 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 68% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
713 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $2.0M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 121 | — | |
| 2022 | 141 | +16.5% | |
| 2023 | 125 | -11.3% | |
| 2024 | 190 | +52.0% | |
| 2025 | 136 | -28.4% |
For the 20 building fires Hopkins departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 461 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 | 114 | 24.7% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 93 | 20.2% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 72 | 15.6% | |
| 4 | Wildland, woods | 43 | 9.3% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 29 | 6.3% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 20 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 15 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Other | 10 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 8 | 1.7% | |
| 10 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 7 | 1.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 50 | 10.8% |
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 Hopkins mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 270 | 58.6% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 39 | 8.5% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 23 | 5.0% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 23 | 5.0% | |
| 5 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 15 | 3.3% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 13 | 2.8% | |
| 7 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 12 | 2.6% | |
| 8 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 12 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Cigarette lighter | 11 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 8 | 1.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 35 | 7.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Hopkins departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 90% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $181,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $80,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $53,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $13,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $10,000 | Grass fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Hopkins sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 16,054 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,684 | 23.8 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,484 | 8.3 mi | |
| 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,200 | 48.4 mi | |
| 2007 | Debris and open burning | 985 | 16.0 mi | |
| 1993 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 650 | 27.6 mi | |
| 2001 | Equipment and vehicle use | 549 | 47.3 mi | |
| 2002 | Arson/incendiarism | 525 | 49.6 mi | |
| 1993 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 500 | 43.0 mi | |
| 1992 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 450 | 47.3 mi | |
| 2012 | Natural | 400 | 49.7 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 382 | 39.2 mi | |
| 1993 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 373 | 48.2 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 South Carolina cities with population within ±25% of Hopkins. 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.