In 2025, fire departments serving Laurens responded to 372 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 46% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,467 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $841K cumulative property loss. 3 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 272 | — | |
| 2022 | 220 | -19.1% | |
| 2023 | 272 | +23.6% | |
| 2024 | 331 | +21.7% | |
| 2025 | 372 | +12.4% |
For the 56 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 477 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 | 165 | 34.6% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 72 | 15.1% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 38 | 8.0% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 34 | 7.1% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 33 | 6.9% | |
| 6 | Wildland, woods | 19 | 4.0% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 18 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Other | 12 | 2.5% | |
| 9 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 12 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Vehicle area, other | 10 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 64 | 13.4% |
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 | Undetermined | 326 | 68.3% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 24 | 5.0% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 23 | 4.8% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 20 | 4.2% | |
| 5 | Cigarette lighter | 20 | 4.2% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 12 | 2.5% | |
| 7 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 11 | 2.3% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 6 | 1.3% | |
| 9 | Fireworks | 6 | 1.3% | |
| 10 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 5 | 1.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 24 | 5.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Laurens departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 86% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $20,000 | Outside rubbish fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $17,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Laurens sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,919 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Recreation and ceremony | 325 | 47.9 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 310 | 33.1 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 19.7 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 202 | 45.2 mi | |
| 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 41.9 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 46.9 mi | |
| 1994 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 190 | 28.4 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 165 | 42.3 mi | |
| 2019 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 152 | 28.2 mi | |
| 1994 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 150 | 28.8 mi | |
| 1999 | Natural | 141 | 42.3 mi | |
| 1993 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 140 | 49.2 mi |
Top 6 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 Laurens. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Laurens.
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.