In 2025, fire departments serving Northport responded to 85 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Grass fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 60% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
302 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $3.6M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 39 | — | |
| 2022 | 53 | +35.9% | |
| 2023 | 61 | +15.1% | |
| 2024 | 64 | +4.9% | |
| 2025 | 85 | +32.8% |
For the 7 building fires Northport departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 165 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 | 121 | 73.3% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 10 | 6.1% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 9 | 5.5% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 5 | 3.0% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 4 | 2.4% | |
| 6 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 1.2% | |
| 7 | Duct: hvac, cable, exhaust, heating, or AC | 2 | 1.2% | |
| 8 | Wildland, woods | 2 | 1.2% | |
| 9 | Multiple areas | 2 | 1.2% | |
| 10 | Conduit, pipe, utility, or ventilation shaft | 1 | 0.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 7 | 4.2% |
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 Northport mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 149 | 90.3% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 5 | 3.0% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 1.8% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 2 | 1.2% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 1 | 0.6% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 0.6% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 0.6% | |
| 8 | Chemical reaction | 1 | 0.6% | |
| 9 | Lightning | 1 | 0.6% | |
| 10 | Multiple heat sources including multiple ignitions | 1 | 0.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Northport departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 91% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $80,500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $30,000 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $18,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $15,000 | Special outside fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Northport sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 19,741 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 | 31.4 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,784 | 19.8 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,925 | 27.0 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,262 | 19.1 mi | |
| 2019 | Arson/incendiarism | 721 | 19.0 mi | |
| 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 700 | 38.2 mi | |
| 1999 | Equipment and vehicle use | 660 | 38.7 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 631 | 31.7 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 625 | 39.8 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 597 | 32.3 mi | |
| 1993 | Arson/incendiarism | 525 | 35.1 mi | |
| 1994 | Debris and open burning | 510 | 49.6 mi |
Top 8 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Alabama cities with population within ±25% of Northport. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Northport.
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.