In 2025, fire departments serving Priceville responded to 16 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Grass fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 75% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Apr dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
99 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $10K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 11 | — | |
| 2022 | 25 | — | |
| 2023 | 26 | +4.0% | |
| 2024 | 21 | -19.2% | |
| 2025 | 16 | -23.8% |
* Well below Priceville'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 1 building fires Priceville departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 55 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 | 17 | 30.9% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 7 | 12.7% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 7 | 12.7% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 7 | 12.7% | |
| 5 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 4 | 7.3% | |
| 6 | Other | 3 | 5.5% | |
| 7 | Wildland, woods | 2 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Dining room, cafeteria bar area, beverage service | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 9 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 10 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 5 | 9.1% |
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 Priceville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 31 | 56.4% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 5 | 9.1% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 5 | 9.1% | |
| 4 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 3.6% | |
| 5 | Cigarette | 2 | 3.6% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 9 | Fireworks | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 5 | 9.1% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Priceville sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 14,959 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 | 33.9 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,308 | 47.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,163 | 19.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,014 | 37.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 919 | 27.5 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 890 | 37.5 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 706 | 41.4 mi | |
| 1996 | Debris and open burning | 575 | 38.8 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 520 | 44.3 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 510 | 45.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 479 | 23.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Equipment and vehicle use | 460 | 42.3 mi |
Top 4 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 Priceville. 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.