In 2025, fire departments serving Phil Campbell responded to 14 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 86% of all calls.
Jan peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
40 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $100 cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 1 | — | |
| 2022* | 1 | — | |
| 2023* | 0 | — | |
| 2024 | 24 | — | |
| 2025 | 14 | -41.7% |
* Well below Phil Campbell'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 6 building fires Phil Campbell departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 13 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 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 3 | 23.1% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 23.1% | |
| 3 | Function area, other | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 5 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 6 | Structural area, other | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 7 | Wall surface: exterior | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 8 | Vacant structural area | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 9 | Undetermined | 1 | 7.7% |
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 Phil Campbell mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 7 | 53.8% | |
| 2 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 15.4% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 5 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 6 | Radiated heat from another fire | 1 | 7.7% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Phil Campbell sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 15,496 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,003 | 15.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,344 | 45.1 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,163 | 28.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,014 | 11.0 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 919 | 35.2 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 706 | 10.1 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 702 | 45.7 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 631 | 45.1 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 608 | 25.4 mi | |
| 1996 | Debris and open burning | 575 | 38.4 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 520 | 14.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 479 | 29.4 mi |
Top 2 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 Phil Campbell. 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.