In 2025, fire departments serving Myrtle responded to 101 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $50K 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 80% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
355 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $2.3M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 50 | — | |
| 2022 | 52 | +4.0% | |
| 2023 | 85 | +63.5% | |
| 2024 | 67 | -21.2% | |
| 2025 | 101 | +50.7% |
For the 22 building fires Myrtle departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 104 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 | 80 | 76.9% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 6 | 5.8% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 2.9% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 3 | 2.9% | |
| 5 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 2 | 1.9% | |
| 6 | Wildland, woods | 2 | 1.9% | |
| 7 | Entrance way, lobby | 1 | 1.0% | |
| 8 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 1.0% | |
| 9 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 1.0% | |
| 10 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 1 | 1.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 4 | 3.8% |
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 Myrtle mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 93 | 89.4% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 3 | 2.9% | |
| 3 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 2 | 1.9% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 1.0% | |
| 5 | Molten, hot material | 1 | 1.0% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 1.0% | |
| 7 | Candle | 1 | 1.0% | |
| 8 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 1 | 1.0% | |
| 9 | Radiated heat from another fire | 1 | 1.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Myrtle departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $50,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Myrtle sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 20,218 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,826 | 16.0 mi | |
| 1996 | Smoking | 1,620 | 44.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,344 | 47.6 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,200 | 36.3 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,130 | 18.2 mi | |
| 1996 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1,092 | 16.7 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,007 | 26.9 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,005 | 9.4 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 1,000 | 4.5 mi | |
| 1993 | Arson/incendiarism | 891 | 21.0 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 870 | 24.0 mi | |
| 1993 | Debris and open burning | 770 | 24.4 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 | 38650 | 355 |
Six Mississippi cities with population within ±25% of Myrtle. 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.