In 2025, fire departments serving Ragland responded to 79 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Hazardous condition, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 72% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jul dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
283 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $41K cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 3 | — | |
| 2022 | 47 | — | |
| 2023 | 74 | +57.4% | |
| 2024 | 80 | +8.1% | |
| 2025 | 79 | -1.2% |
* Well below Ragland'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 3 building fires Ragland departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 106 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 | 28 | 26.4% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 22 | 20.8% | |
| 3 | Wildland, woods | 9 | 8.5% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 8 | 7.5% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 8 | 7.5% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 4 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 2.8% | |
| 8 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 1.9% | |
| 9 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 2 | 1.9% | |
| 10 | Storage area, other | 2 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 18 | 17.0% |
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 Ragland mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 59 | 55.7% | |
| 2 | Cigarette lighter | 11 | 10.4% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 8 | 7.5% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 6 | 5.7% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 5 | 4.7% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 4 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 2.8% | |
| 8 | Cigarette | 3 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 1.9% | |
| 10 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 0.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 4 | 3.8% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Ragland sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 33,852 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,321 | 41.9 mi | |
| 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,108 | 29.0 mi | |
| 2007 | Debris and open burning | 3,000 | 32.0 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,500 | 14.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,229 | 24.9 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 1,800 | 49.3 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,636 | 35.1 mi | |
| 1996 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,540 | 27.5 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,350 | 44.5 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 1,100 | 35.2 mi | |
| 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,078 | 19.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,066 | 39.8 mi |
Top 3 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 Ragland. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Ragland.
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.