In 2025, fire departments serving Pelzer responded to 195 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $70K 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 71% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,025 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $2.0M cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 191 | — | |
| 2022 | 227 | +18.8% | |
| 2023 | 192 | -15.4% | |
| 2024 | 220 | +14.6% | |
| 2025 | 195 | -11.4% |
For the 32 building fires Pelzer departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 521 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 | Outside area, other | 144 | 27.6% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 123 | 23.6% | |
| 3 | Other | 38 | 7.3% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 36 | 6.9% | |
| 5 | Wildland, woods | 35 | 6.7% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 30 | 5.8% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 19 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Cooking area, kitchen | 13 | 2.5% | |
| 9 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 9 | 1.7% | |
| 10 | Wall surface: exterior | 7 | 1.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 67 | 12.9% |
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 Pelzer mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 343 | 65.8% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 32 | 6.1% | |
| 3 | Cigarette lighter | 25 | 4.8% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 22 | 4.2% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 15 | 2.9% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 11 | 2.1% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 8 | 1.5% | |
| 8 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 7 | 1.3% | |
| 9 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 7 | 1.3% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 6 | 1.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 45 | 8.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Pelzer departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 81% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $70,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $61,650 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $30,000 | Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $23,000 | Camper or recreational vehicle (RV) fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $13,000 | Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $12,900 | Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Pelzer sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
9 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 3 | |
| 30-39 | 1 | |
| 40-49 | 1 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 1 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 18,063 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 10,623 | 31.5 mi | |
| 1993 | Natural | 1,050 | 43.8 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 800 | 45.2 mi | |
| 2017 | Recreation and ceremony | 570 | 46.8 mi | |
| 2014 | Recreation and ceremony | 468 | 34.5 mi | |
| 2009 | Recreation and ceremony | 351 | 33.3 mi | |
| 2007 | Recreation and ceremony | 325 | 25.8 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 43.8 mi | |
| 2002 | Arson/incendiarism | 275 | 47.3 mi | |
| 2006 | Equipment and vehicle use | 275 | 40.0 mi | |
| 2007 | Recreation and ceremony | 250 | 31.9 mi | |
| 2002 | Arson/incendiarism | 250 | 49.0 mi |
Top 4 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 Pelzer. 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.