In 2025, fire departments serving Opp responded to 227 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $60K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Aircraft standby lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 66% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
955 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $291K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 150 | — | |
| 2022 | 163 | +8.7% | |
| 2023 | 242 | +48.5% | |
| 2024 | 173 | -28.5% | |
| 2025 | 227 | +31.2% |
For the 23 building fires Opp departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 128 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 | 32 | 25.0% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 27 | 21.1% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 22 | 17.2% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 8 | 6.2% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 7 | 5.5% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 4 | 3.1% | |
| 7 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 4 | 3.1% | |
| 8 | Other | 3 | 2.3% | |
| 9 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 3 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 3 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 15 | 11.7% |
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 Opp mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 51 | 39.8% | |
| 2 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 19 | 14.8% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 16 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 11 | 8.6% | |
| 5 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 6 | 4.7% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 5 | 3.9% | |
| 7 | Cigarette | 5 | 3.9% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 1.6% | |
| 9 | Arcing | 2 | 1.6% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 1.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 9 | 7.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Opp departments in 2025. These 7 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $60,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $56,100 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $40,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $15,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $500 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Opp sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 21,478 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,926 | 45.7 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,800 | 44.8 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,800 | 46.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Natural | 1,200 | 49.7 mi | |
| 1998 | Equipment and vehicle use | 991 | 49.0 mi | |
| 2013 | Debris and open burning | 800 | 45.6 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 745 | 37.8 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 720 | 47.6 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 700 | 45.1 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 700 | 49.5 mi | |
| 1997 | Equipment and vehicle use | 680 | 48.5 mi | |
| 2015 | Arson/incendiarism | 678 | 27.5 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 Alabama cities with population within ±25% of Opp. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Opp.
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.