In 2025, fire departments serving Laurens responded to 10 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 80% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
52 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $150K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 14 | — | |
| 2022 | 9 | -35.7% | |
| 2023 | 14 | +55.6% | |
| 2024* | 5 | — | |
| 2025 | 10 | — |
* Well below Laurens'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 1 building fires Laurens departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 19 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 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 15.8% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 3 | 15.8% | |
| 3 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 10.5% | |
| 4 | Duct: hvac, cable, exhaust, heating, or AC | 2 | 10.5% | |
| 5 | Wall surface: exterior | 2 | 10.5% | |
| 6 | Egress/exit, other | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 7 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 8 | Storage area, other | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 9 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 10 | Vehicle area, other | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 2 | 10.5% |
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 Laurens mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 21.1% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 4 | 21.1% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 15.8% | |
| 4 | Match | 2 | 10.5% | |
| 5 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 2 | 10.5% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 7 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 8 | Lightning | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 9 | Conducted heat from another fire | 1 | 5.3% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Laurens sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,043 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 140 | 42.7 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 80 | 42.5 mi | |
| 1997 | Debris and open burning | 60 | 43.0 mi | |
| 2015 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 53 | 47.5 mi | |
| 2001 | Recreation and ceremony | 47 | 43.2 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 45 | 7.1 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 42 | 49.9 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 40 | 36.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Natural | 40 | 20.1 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 40 | 34.5 mi | |
| 1999 | Smoking | 40 | 26.7 mi | |
| 1993 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 38 | 14.9 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 New York cities with population within ±25% of Laurens. 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.