In 2025, fire departments serving Midfield responded to 32 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $200K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 75% of all calls.
May peaks. Apr dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
189 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $1.2M cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 43 | — | |
| 2022 | 56 | +30.2% | |
| 2023 | 34 | -39.3% | |
| 2024 | 24 | -29.4% | |
| 2025 | 32 | +33.3% |
For the 5 building fires Midfield 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 | Undetermined | 36 | 27.5% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 13 | 9.9% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 13 | 9.9% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 11 | 8.4% | |
| 5 | Vehicle area, other | 11 | 8.4% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 7 | 5.3% | |
| 7 | Other | 5 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 4 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Structural area, other | 4 | 3.1% | |
| 10 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 4 | 3.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 23 | 17.6% |
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 Midfield mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 86 | 65.6% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 10 | 7.6% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 5 | 3.8% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 5 | 3.8% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 3.1% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 2.3% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 2.3% | |
| 8 | Arcing | 3 | 2.3% | |
| 9 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 1.5% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 1.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 8 | 6.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Midfield departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 99% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $75,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $40,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $15,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $10,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Midfield sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 27,038 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 2,950 | 10.0 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,784 | 23.4 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,590 | 46.7 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,925 | 42.7 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 1,800 | 31.8 mi | |
| 1996 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,540 | 24.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,308 | 27.4 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,262 | 45.2 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 1,100 | 20.3 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 890 | 36.4 mi | |
| 2019 | Arson/incendiarism | 721 | 45.8 mi | |
| 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 700 | 13.9 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 | 35228 | 189 |
Six Alabama cities with population within ±25% of Midfield. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Midfield.
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.