In 2025, fire departments serving Manila responded to 21 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $150K 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 67% of all calls.
Feb peaks. Apr dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
127 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $1.6M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 5 | — | |
| 2022 | 25 | — | |
| 2023 | 29 | +16.0% | |
| 2024 | 47 | +62.1% | |
| 2025 | 21 | -55.3% |
* Well below Manila'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 4 building fires Manila departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 50 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 | 9 | 18.0% | |
| 2 | Vehicle area, other | 6 | 12.0% | |
| 3 | Storage area, other | 5 | 10.0% | |
| 4 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 4 | 8.0% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 4 | 8.0% | |
| 6 | Structural area, other | 4 | 8.0% | |
| 7 | Outside area, other | 4 | 8.0% | |
| 8 | Other | 2 | 4.0% | |
| 9 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 2 | 4.0% | |
| 10 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 2 | 4.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 8 | 16.0% |
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 Manila mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 25 | 50.0% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 7 | 14.0% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 8.0% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 3 | 6.0% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 6.0% | |
| 6 | Match | 2 | 4.0% | |
| 7 | Lightning | 2 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 2.0% | |
| 9 | Heat from undetermined smoking material | 1 | 2.0% | |
| 10 | Cigarette lighter | 1 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 1 | 2.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Manila departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $20,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $20,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $1,000 | Chimney or flue fire, confined to chimney or flue | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $800 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Manila sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,691 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 450 | 34.7 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 400 | 50.0 mi | |
| 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 316 | 35.7 mi | |
| 2009 | Arson/incendiarism | 203 | 42.5 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 200 | 31.5 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 195 | 47.9 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 159 | 43.5 mi | |
| 2019 | Debris and open burning | 148 | 34.9 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 139 | 24.7 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 125 | 47.6 mi | |
| 1997 | Debris and open burning | 122 | 39.9 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 100 | 32.7 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 72442 | 127 |
Six Arkansas cities with population within ±25% of Manila. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Manila.
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.