In 2025, fire departments serving Liberty responded to 89 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $30K 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 71% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
426 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $1.4M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 96 | — | |
| 2022 | 74 | -22.9% | |
| 2023 | 62 | -16.2% | |
| 2024 | 105 | +69.4% | |
| 2025 | 89 | -15.2% |
For the 22 building fires Liberty departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 131 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 | Outside area, other | 38 | 29.0% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 17 | 13.0% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 17 | 13.0% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 8 | 6.1% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 6 | 4.6% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 6 | 4.6% | |
| 7 | Wildland, woods | 6 | 4.6% | |
| 8 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 3 | 2.3% | |
| 9 | Other | 2 | 1.5% | |
| 10 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 1.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 26 | 19.8% |
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 Liberty mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 66 | 50.4% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 17 | 13.0% | |
| 3 | Cigarette lighter | 10 | 7.6% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 7 | 5.3% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 5 | 3.8% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 4 | 3.1% | |
| 7 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 4 | 3.1% | |
| 8 | Match | 3 | 2.3% | |
| 9 | Heat source: other | 2 | 1.5% | |
| 10 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 1.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 11 | 8.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Liberty departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $30,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $2,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Liberty sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 46,382 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 24,725 | 49.4 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 10,623 | 17.0 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,477 | 48.5 mi | |
| 1993 | Natural | 1,050 | 27.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 889 | 38.5 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 800 | 32.4 mi | |
| 2017 | Recreation and ceremony | 570 | 32.8 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 500 | 49.1 mi | |
| 2014 | Recreation and ceremony | 468 | 19.1 mi | |
| 2008 | Natural | 440 | 40.1 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 425 | 47.6 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 407 | 40.0 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 South Carolina cities with population within ±25% of Liberty. 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.