In 2025, fire departments serving Pinson responded to 99 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $850K 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 60% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
641 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $5.3M cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 122 | — | |
| 2022 | 122 | +0.0% | |
| 2023 | 166 | +36.1% | |
| 2024 | 132 | -20.5% | |
| 2025 | 99 | -25.0% |
For the 20 building fires Pinson departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 301 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 | 63 | 20.9% | |
| 2 | Wildland, woods | 49 | 16.3% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 34 | 11.3% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 31 | 10.3% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 26 | 8.6% | |
| 6 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 25 | 8.3% | |
| 7 | Wall surface: exterior | 8 | 2.7% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 7 | 2.3% | |
| 9 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 6 | 2.0% | |
| 10 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 5 | 1.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 47 | 15.6% |
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 Pinson mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 155 | 51.5% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 22 | 7.3% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 19 | 6.3% | |
| 4 | Cigarette lighter | 13 | 4.3% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 12 | 4.0% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 11 | 3.7% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 10 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 9 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 6 | 2.0% | |
| 10 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 5 | 1.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 39 | 13.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Pinson departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 93% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $850,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $175,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $60,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $30,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $25,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Pinson sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
6 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 1 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 1 | |
| 30-39 | 2 | |
| 40-49 | 0 | |
| 50-59 | 1 | |
| 60-69 | 1 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 28,585 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 | 2,950 | 31.4 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,784 | 42.3 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,500 | 44.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,229 | 49.0 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 1,800 | 41.1 mi | |
| 1996 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,540 | 17.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,308 | 21.9 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 1,100 | 22.1 mi | |
| 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,078 | 49.9 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,066 | 48.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 988 | 48.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 919 | 42.1 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 Alabama cities with population within ±25% of Pinson. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Pinson.
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.