In 2025, fire departments serving Piedmont responded to 73 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $150K 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 64% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
395 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $4.3M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 59 | — | |
| 2022 | 90 | +52.5% | |
| 2023 | 95 | +5.6% | |
| 2024 | 78 | -17.9% | |
| 2025 | 73 | -6.4% |
For the 2 building fires Piedmont departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 142 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 | 42 | 29.6% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 16 | 11.3% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 16 | 11.3% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 7 | 4.9% | |
| 5 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 7 | 4.9% | |
| 6 | Other | 6 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 6 | 4.2% | |
| 8 | Railroad right of way: on or near | 5 | 3.5% | |
| 9 | Storage area, other | 4 | 2.8% | |
| 10 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 4 | 2.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 29 | 20.4% |
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 Piedmont mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 64 | 45.1% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 11 | 7.7% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 10 | 7.0% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 10 | 7.0% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 8 | 5.6% | |
| 6 | Lightning | 6 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Fireworks | 5 | 3.5% | |
| 8 | Heat source: other | 4 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 4 | 2.8% | |
| 10 | Cigarette | 3 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 17 | 12.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Piedmont departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $150,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $60,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $25,000 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $7,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $5,000 | Outside storage fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $1,500 | Chimney or flue fire, confined to chimney or flue | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Piedmont sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 89,883 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 26,000 | 18.3 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 8,954 | 44.9 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 8,600 | 34.8 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,400 | 48.0 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,840 | 22.0 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,475 | 28.1 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,250 | 20.9 mi | |
| 2006 | Firearms and explosives use | 3,000 | 28.7 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,950 | 28.9 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,621 | 31.3 mi | |
| 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 2,484 | 25.7 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,412 | 28.6 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 Oklahoma cities with population within ±25% of Piedmont. 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.