In 2025, fire departments serving Little River responded to 188 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $1.1M 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. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
727 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $5.9M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 130 | — | |
| 2022 | 109 | -16.2% | |
| 2023 | 140 | +28.4% | |
| 2024 | 160 | +14.3% | |
| 2025 | 188 | +17.5% |
For the 21 building fires Little River departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 196 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 | 45 | 23.0% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 20 | 10.2% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 17 | 8.7% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 16 | 8.2% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 14 | 7.1% | |
| 6 | Other | 7 | 3.6% | |
| 7 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 7 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 7 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 6 | 3.1% | |
| 10 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 5 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 52 | 26.5% |
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 Little River mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 104 | 53.1% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 17 | 8.7% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 15 | 7.7% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 10 | 5.1% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 10 | 5.1% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 8 | 4.1% | |
| 7 | Cigarette lighter | 5 | 2.6% | |
| 8 | Cigarette | 4 | 2.0% | |
| 9 | Heat source: other | 3 | 1.5% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 3 | 1.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 17 | 8.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Little River departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 90% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,120,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $350,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $300,000 | Water vehicle fire | Major | Investigated |
| 4 | $175,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $154,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $70,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Little River sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
15 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 0 | |
| 30-39 | 2 | |
| 40-49 | 1 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 1 | |
| 70-79 | 1 | |
| 80+ | 2 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 38,882 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Debris and open burning | 19,130 | 16.7 mi | |
| 1997 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,150 | 39.6 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,911 | 8.5 mi | |
| 2002 | Debris and open burning | 1,648 | 22.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 1,577 | 27.0 mi | |
| 2011 | Fireworks | 1,155 | 17.6 mi | |
| 2009 | Debris and open burning | 1,089 | 36.2 mi | |
| 1993 | Debris and open burning | 970 | 29.1 mi | |
| 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 844 | 23.4 mi | |
| 2007 | Arson/incendiarism | 765 | 30.1 mi | |
| 1998 | Debris and open burning | 750 | 9.7 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 650 | 26.3 mi |
Top 8 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 Little River. 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.