In 2025, fire departments serving Kingston responded to 75 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 52% of all calls.
Mar peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
444 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $2.4M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 84 | — | |
| 2022 | 87 | +3.6% | |
| 2023 | 104 | +19.5% | |
| 2024 | 94 | -9.6% | |
| 2025 | 75 | -20.2% |
For the 7 building fires Kingston departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 204 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 | 64 | 31.4% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 33 | 16.2% | |
| 3 | Wildland, woods | 26 | 12.7% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 19 | 9.3% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 16 | 7.8% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 7 | 3.4% | |
| 7 | Wall surface: exterior | 5 | 2.5% | |
| 8 | Cooking area, kitchen | 4 | 2.0% | |
| 9 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 4 | 2.0% | |
| 10 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 3 | 1.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 23 | 11.3% |
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 Kingston mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 139 | 68.1% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 12 | 5.9% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 7 | 3.4% | |
| 4 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 5 | 2.5% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 2.0% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 4 | 2.0% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 4 | 2.0% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 1.5% | |
| 9 | Heat, spark from friction | 3 | 1.5% | |
| 10 | Cigarette lighter | 3 | 1.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 20 | 9.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Kingston departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 92% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $24,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $20,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Kingston sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 29,930 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,321 | 37.1 mi | |
| 2007 | Debris and open burning | 3,000 | 44.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 2,836 | 46.0 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,000 | 41.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,000 | 45.7 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,636 | 50.0 mi | |
| 2006 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 1,448 | 39.1 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,350 | 34.0 mi | |
| 1999 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,281 | 40.1 mi | |
| 2007 | Natural | 965 | 40.3 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 907 | 27.9 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 900 | 40.2 mi |
Top 2 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Georgia cities with population within ±25% of Kingston. 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.