In 2025, fire departments serving Randolph responded to 14 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $50K 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 100% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
65 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $963K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 16 | — | |
| 2022 | 8 | -50.0% | |
| 2023 | 10 | +25.0% | |
| 2024 | 17 | +70.0% | |
| 2025 | 14 | -17.6% |
For the 4 building fires Randolph departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 36 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 | 13 | 36.1% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 9 | 25.0% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 4 | 11.1% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 5.6% | |
| 5 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 2 | 5.6% | |
| 6 | Technical processing areas, other | 1 | 2.8% | |
| 7 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 1 | 2.8% | |
| 8 | Wall assembly | 1 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Wall surface: exterior | 1 | 2.8% | |
| 10 | Wildland, woods | 1 | 2.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 1 | 2.8% |
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 Randolph mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 22 | 61.1% | |
| 2 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 5 | 13.9% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 3 | 8.3% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 5.6% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 1 | 2.8% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 2.8% | |
| 7 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 1 | 2.8% | |
| 8 | Multiple heat sources including multiple ignitions | 1 | 2.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Randolph departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $4,500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Randolph sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 19,000 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,826 | 24.2 mi | |
| 1996 | Smoking | 1,620 | 35.4 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,200 | 43.5 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,130 | 40.9 mi | |
| 1996 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1,092 | 30.7 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,005 | 30.0 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 1,000 | 30.7 mi | |
| 1993 | Arson/incendiarism | 891 | 32.4 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 870 | 39.8 mi | |
| 1993 | Debris and open burning | 770 | 42.4 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 720 | 29.4 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 636 | 43.8 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 38864 | 65 |
Six Mississippi cities with population within ±25% of Randolph. 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.