In 2025, fire departments serving Irondale responded to 96 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $1.0M 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 52% of all calls.
May peaks. Jul dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
547 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $3.7M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 107 | — | |
| 2022 | 96 | -10.3% | |
| 2023 | 141 | +46.9% | |
| 2024 | 107 | -24.1% | |
| 2025 | 96 | -10.3% |
For the 7 building fires Irondale departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 189 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 | 54 | 28.6% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 48 | 25.4% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 15 | 7.9% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 14 | 7.4% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 7 | 3.7% | |
| 6 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 7 | 3.7% | |
| 7 | Other | 4 | 2.1% | |
| 8 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 4 | 2.1% | |
| 9 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 4 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 4 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 28 | 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 Irondale mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 117 | 61.9% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 11 | 5.8% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 7 | 3.7% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 7 | 3.7% | |
| 5 | Heat, spark from friction | 7 | 3.7% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 7 | 3.7% | |
| 7 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 6 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Arcing | 4 | 2.1% | |
| 9 | Heat source: other | 3 | 1.6% | |
| 10 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 1.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 17 | 9.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Irondale departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 97% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,000,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $40,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $40,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $20,000 | Building or structure weakened or collapsed | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $10,000 | Rail vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Irondale sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 30,612 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,108 | 47.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 2,950 | 26.2 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,784 | 39.2 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,500 | 45.5 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,229 | 46.0 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 1,800 | 30.0 mi | |
| 1996 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,540 | 9.4 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,308 | 29.0 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 1,100 | 11.4 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,066 | 40.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 988 | 44.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 932 | 48.2 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 Irondale. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Irondale.
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.