In 2025, fire departments serving Mullins responded to 67 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $500K 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 76% of all calls.
Sep peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
418 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $4.7M cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 100 | — | |
| 2022 | 102 | +2.0% | |
| 2023 | 68 | -33.3% | |
| 2024 | 81 | +19.1% | |
| 2025 | 67 | -17.3% |
For the 28 building fires Mullins departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 133 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 | 76 | 57.1% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 10 | 7.5% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 7 | 5.3% | |
| 4 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 6 | 4.5% | |
| 5 | Vehicle area, other | 4 | 3.0% | |
| 6 | Vacant structural area | 4 | 3.0% | |
| 7 | Other | 3 | 2.3% | |
| 8 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 3 | 2.3% | |
| 9 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 3 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Egress/exit, other | 2 | 1.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 15 | 11.3% |
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 Mullins mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 96 | 72.2% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 8 | 6.0% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 4 | 3.0% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 2.3% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 2.3% | |
| 6 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 3 | 2.3% | |
| 7 | Heat from undetermined smoking material | 3 | 2.3% | |
| 8 | Molten, hot material | 2 | 1.5% | |
| 9 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 2 | 1.5% | |
| 10 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 0.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 8 | 6.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Mullins departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 87% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $500,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $500,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $90,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $70,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $70,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $57,812 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Mullins sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 37,739 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 | 32.5 mi | |
| 1997 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,150 | 40.0 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,911 | 38.6 mi | |
| 2002 | Debris and open burning | 1,648 | 36.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Fireworks | 1,155 | 35.8 mi | |
| 2009 | Debris and open burning | 1,089 | 45.2 mi | |
| 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 844 | 37.4 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 795 | 38.3 mi | |
| 2007 | Arson/incendiarism | 765 | 11.7 mi | |
| 1998 | Debris and open burning | 750 | 36.5 mi | |
| 1993 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 541 | 12.8 mi | |
| 2001 | Debris and open burning | 528 | 8.9 mi |
Top 5 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 Mullins. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Mullins.
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.