In 2025, fire departments serving Oakman responded to 24 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $50K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Incomplete 2025 data. Oakman's departments reported 24 incidents to NFIRS for 2025, against about 53 in a typical year, so 2025 figures on this page undercount. The 2021–2025 totals are the better guide.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 96% of all calls.
Jun peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
263 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $103K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 22 | — | |
| 2022 | 90 | — | |
| 2023 | 71 | -21.1% | |
| 2024 | 56 | -21.1% | |
| 2025* | 24 | — |
* Well below Oakman's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.
For the 11 building fires Oakman departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 142 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 | 124 | 87.3% | |
| 2 | Wildland, woods | 6 | 4.2% | |
| 3 | Other | 5 | 3.5% | |
| 4 | Conduit, pipe, utility, or ventilation shaft | 2 | 1.4% | |
| 5 | Corridor, mall | 1 | 0.7% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 0.7% | |
| 7 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 0.7% | |
| 8 | Duct: hvac, cable, exhaust, heating, or AC | 1 | 0.7% | |
| 9 | Vehicle area, other | 1 | 0.7% |
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 Oakman mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 128 | 90.1% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 2.1% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 3 | 2.1% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 2 | 1.4% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 1.4% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 0.7% | |
| 7 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 0.7% | |
| 8 | Match | 1 | 0.7% | |
| 9 | Lightning | 1 | 0.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Oakman departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Oakman sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 22,353 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 | 26.7 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,784 | 19.6 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,003 | 42.9 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,308 | 23.5 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,262 | 49.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,014 | 47.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 919 | 35.5 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 890 | 32.3 mi | |
| 2019 | Arson/incendiarism | 721 | 49.9 mi | |
| 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 700 | 19.1 mi | |
| 1999 | Equipment and vehicle use | 660 | 17.4 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 631 | 8.5 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 Alabama cities with population within ±25% of Oakman. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Oakman.
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.