In 2025, fire departments serving Pickens responded to 317 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $50K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 64% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,344 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $606K cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 183 | — | |
| 2022 | 286 | +56.3% | |
| 2023 | 281 | -1.7% | |
| 2024 | 277 | -1.4% | |
| 2025 | 317 | +14.4% |
For the 73 building fires Pickens departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 422 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 | 114 | 27.0% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 76 | 18.0% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 35 | 8.3% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 28 | 6.6% | |
| 5 | Wildland, woods | 25 | 5.9% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 19 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 15 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 8 | 1.9% | |
| 9 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 7 | 1.7% | |
| 10 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 7 | 1.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 88 | 20.9% |
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 Pickens mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 199 | 47.2% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 31 | 7.3% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 29 | 6.9% | |
| 4 | Cigarette lighter | 21 | 5.0% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 18 | 4.3% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 14 | 3.3% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 13 | 3.1% | |
| 8 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 12 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 12 | 2.8% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 11 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 62 | 14.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Pickens departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 92% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $50,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $15,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $12,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $6,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Pickens sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 55,833 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 24,725 | 47.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 10,623 | 10.4 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 7,913 | 48.3 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,477 | 43.4 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,129 | 49.6 mi | |
| 1993 | Natural | 1,050 | 24.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 889 | 37.8 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 800 | 33.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 728 | 46.6 mi | |
| 2017 | Recreation and ceremony | 570 | 33.2 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 524 | 45.5 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 500 | 47.5 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 South Carolina cities with population within ±25% of Pickens. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Pickens.
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.