In 2025, fire departments serving Inman responded to 203 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $242K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Unauthorized burning lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 61% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
847 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $1.4M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 162 | — | |
| 2022 | 187 | +15.4% | |
| 2023 | 157 | -16.0% | |
| 2024 | 138 | -12.1% | |
| 2025 | 203 | +47.1% |
For the 21 building fires Inman departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 280 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 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 48 | 17.1% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 47 | 16.8% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 41 | 14.6% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 26 | 9.3% | |
| 5 | Wildland, woods | 17 | 6.1% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 15 | 5.4% | |
| 7 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 7 | 2.5% | |
| 8 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 6 | 2.1% | |
| 9 | Other | 5 | 1.8% | |
| 10 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 5 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 63 | 22.5% |
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 Inman mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 144 | 51.4% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 23 | 8.2% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 21 | 7.5% | |
| 4 | Cigarette lighter | 13 | 4.6% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 12 | 4.3% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 11 | 3.9% | |
| 7 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 7 | 2.5% | |
| 8 | Heat source: other | 6 | 2.1% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 6 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 5 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 32 | 11.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Inman departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 98% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $242,100 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $30,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $15,210 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $10,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Inman sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 40,584 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 10,623 | 37.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 7,913 | 28.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,431 | 46.8 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,163 | 45.5 mi | |
| 2001 | Debris and open burning | 2,235 | 32.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,477 | 25.8 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 740 | 41.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 670 | 48.4 mi | |
| 1994 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 586 | 44.0 mi | |
| 2017 | Debris and open burning | 571 | 48.3 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 562 | 41.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 535 | 40.1 mi |
Top 5 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 Inman. 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.