In 2025, fire departments serving Pinewood responded to 49 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $50K 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 53% of all calls.
Feb peaks. Apr dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
230 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $1.5M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 49 | — | |
| 2022 | 43 | -12.2% | |
| 2023 | 42 | -2.3% | |
| 2024 | 47 | +11.9% | |
| 2025 | 49 | +4.3% |
For the 3 building fires Pinewood departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 127 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 | 65 | 51.2% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 29 | 22.8% | |
| 3 | Wildland, woods | 7 | 5.5% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 5 | 3.9% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 3.1% | |
| 6 | Wall surface: exterior | 3 | 2.4% | |
| 7 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 2 | 1.6% | |
| 8 | Duct: hvac, cable, exhaust, heating, or AC | 2 | 1.6% | |
| 9 | Function area, other | 1 | 0.8% | |
| 10 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 0.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 8 | 6.3% |
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 Pinewood mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 109 | 85.8% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 3 | 2.4% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 2.4% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 1.6% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 1.6% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 1 | 0.8% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 0.8% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 0.8% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 0.8% | |
| 10 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 1 | 0.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 3 | 2.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Pinewood departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 96% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $50,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $5,000 | Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $4,000 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $4,000 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $3,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Pinewood sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 23,767 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,684 | 2.7 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,484 | 28.6 mi | |
| 2002 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,922 | 43.4 mi | |
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,695 | 45.4 mi | |
| 2002 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,600 | 38.1 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 1,247 | 44.6 mi | |
| 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,200 | 23.1 mi | |
| 2007 | Debris and open burning | 985 | 26.6 mi | |
| 1993 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 950 | 49.6 mi | |
| 1994 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 862 | 34.7 mi | |
| 1993 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 650 | 37.8 mi | |
| 2008 | Debris and open burning | 573 | 40.0 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 South Carolina cities with population within ±25% of Pinewood. 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.