In 2025, fire departments serving Jasper responded to 98 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Hazardous condition, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 90% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
562 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $249K cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 64 | — | |
| 2022 | 89 | — | |
| 2023 | 143 | +60.7% | |
| 2024 | 168 | +17.5% | |
| 2025 | 98 | -41.7% |
* Well below Jasper'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 26 building fires Jasper departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 344 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 | 156 | 45.3% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 42 | 12.2% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 31 | 9.0% | |
| 4 | Wildland, woods | 29 | 8.4% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 16 | 4.7% | |
| 6 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 10 | 2.9% | |
| 7 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 9 | 2.6% | |
| 8 | Other | 8 | 2.3% | |
| 9 | Vehicle area, other | 7 | 2.0% | |
| 10 | Structural area, other | 6 | 1.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 30 | 8.7% |
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 Jasper mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 262 | 76.2% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 17 | 4.9% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 14 | 4.1% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 11 | 3.2% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 8 | 2.3% | |
| 6 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 8 | 2.3% | |
| 7 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 6 | 1.7% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 0.6% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 0.6% | |
| 10 | Cigarette lighter | 2 | 0.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 12 | 3.5% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Jasper sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 22,274 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 | 31.6 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,784 | 29.0 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,003 | 34.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,308 | 14.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,163 | 41.3 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,014 | 40.3 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 919 | 24.2 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 890 | 21.7 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 706 | 47.2 mi | |
| 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 700 | 20.1 mi | |
| 1999 | Equipment and vehicle use | 660 | 17.8 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 631 | 17.9 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 Alabama cities with population within ±25% of Jasper. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
5 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Jasper.
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.