In 2025, fire departments serving Moss Point responded to 296 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $200K 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 57% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,398 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $16.3M cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 213 | — | |
| 2022 | 184 | -13.6% | |
| 2023 | 364 | +97.8% | |
| 2024 | 341 | -6.3% | |
| 2025 | 296 | -13.2% |
For the 40 building fires Moss Point departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 489 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 | 250 | 51.1% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 61 | 12.5% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 37 | 7.6% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 18 | 3.7% | |
| 5 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 10 | 2.0% | |
| 6 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 10 | 2.0% | |
| 7 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 9 | 1.8% | |
| 8 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 8 | 1.6% | |
| 9 | Exterior, exposed surface | 8 | 1.6% | |
| 10 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 7 | 1.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 71 | 14.5% |
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 Moss Point mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 342 | 69.9% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 23 | 4.7% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 17 | 3.5% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 16 | 3.3% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 14 | 2.9% | |
| 6 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 14 | 2.9% | |
| 7 | Cigarette lighter | 8 | 1.6% | |
| 8 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 6 | 1.2% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 6 | 1.2% | |
| 10 | Radiated heat from another fire | 6 | 1.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 37 | 7.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Moss Point departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 45% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $180,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $180,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $120,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $90,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $90,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $80,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Moss Point sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
5 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 | 2 | |
| 30-39 | 1 | |
| 40-49 | 1 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 1 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 40,950 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 4,394 | 14.5 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 4,248 | 5.9 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,000 | 46.0 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,500 | 20.6 mi | |
| 2009 | Debris and open burning | 2,100 | 14.5 mi | |
| 2006 | Natural | 1,824 | 27.2 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,698 | 37.4 mi | |
| 2015 | Natural | 1,594 | 23.6 mi | |
| 1993 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,500 | 6.7 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,485 | 48.8 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,400 | 21.2 mi | |
| 1997 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,350 | 31.7 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 Mississippi cities with population within ±25% of Moss Point. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
4 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Moss Point.
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.