In 2025, fire departments serving Pembroke responded to 59 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $12K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 78% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jul dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
391 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $1.2M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 73 | — | |
| 2022 | 102 | +39.7% | |
| 2023 | 77 | -24.5% | |
| 2024 | 80 | +3.9% | |
| 2025 | 59 | -26.2% |
For the 3 building fires Pembroke departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 125 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 | 33 | 26.4% | |
| 2 | Wildland, woods | 25 | 20.0% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 13 | 10.4% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 11 | 8.8% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 6 | 4.8% | |
| 6 | Vehicle area, other | 5 | 4.0% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 5 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 3 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 3 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Storage area, other | 3 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 18 | 14.4% |
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 Pembroke mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 52 | 41.6% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 16 | 12.8% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 11 | 8.8% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 8 | 6.4% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 6 | 4.8% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 6 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Heat, spark from friction | 4 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Heat from undetermined smoking material | 3 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 1.6% | |
| 10 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 1.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 15 | 12.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Pembroke departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 98% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $12,000 | Forest, woods or wildland fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $10,000 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $8,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $2,500 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $800 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Pembroke sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 21,598 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 | 4,035 | 29.5 mi | |
| 2007 | Debris and open burning | 1,742 | 26.6 mi | |
| 1994 | Debris and open burning | 1,245 | 31.3 mi | |
| 2007 | Natural | 1,076 | 41.9 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,022 | 45.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 1,016 | 31.8 mi | |
| 2000 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 916 | 9.0 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 827 | 3.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 791 | 23.4 mi | |
| 1999 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 789 | 26.7 mi | |
| 1994 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 761 | 32.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 760 | 25.2 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 Georgia cities with population within ±25% of Pembroke. 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.