In 2025, fire departments serving Moultrie responded to 131 fire and hazmat incidents . 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 51% of all calls.
Nov peaks. Jul dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,012 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $184K cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 200 | — | |
| 2022 | 240 | +20.0% | |
| 2023 | 270 | +12.5% | |
| 2024 | 171 | -36.7% | |
| 2025 | 131 | -23.4% |
For the 12 building fires Moultrie departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 361 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 | 101 | 28.0% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 47 | 13.0% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 37 | 10.2% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 32 | 8.9% | |
| 5 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 15 | 4.2% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 13 | 3.6% | |
| 7 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 11 | 3.0% | |
| 8 | Wildland, woods | 10 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Wall surface: exterior | 9 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 8 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 78 | 21.6% |
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 Moultrie mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 211 | 58.4% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 34 | 9.4% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 34 | 9.4% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 14 | 3.9% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 12 | 3.3% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 12 | 3.3% | |
| 7 | Cigarette lighter | 7 | 1.9% | |
| 8 | Radiated heat from another fire | 6 | 1.7% | |
| 9 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 6 | 1.7% | |
| 10 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 5 | 1.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 20 | 5.5% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Moultrie sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 20,097 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Arson/incendiarism | 5,780 | 47.8 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 4,050 | 47.6 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 2,065 | 36.7 mi | |
| 1996 | Debris and open burning | 1,908 | 48.5 mi | |
| 1993 | Natural | 702 | 17.6 mi | |
| 2007 | Arson/incendiarism | 640 | 37.1 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 542 | 33.9 mi | |
| 2020 | Natural | 309 | 26.3 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 290 | 10.9 mi | |
| 2007 | Debris and open burning | 272 | 45.4 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 264 | 11.9 mi | |
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 262 | 41.9 mi |
Top 3 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Georgia cities with population within ±25% of Moultrie. 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.