In 2025, fire departments serving Ravenel responded to 46 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $80K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Passenger vehicle fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 67% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Apr dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
168 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $617K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 17 | — | |
| 2022* | 13 | — | |
| 2023 | 49 | — | |
| 2024 | 43 | -12.2% | |
| 2025 | 46 | +7.0% |
* Well below Ravenel'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 Ravenel departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 77 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 | 34 | 44.2% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 12 | 15.6% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 5 | 6.5% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 4 | 5.2% | |
| 5 | Railroad right of way: on or near | 3 | 3.9% | |
| 6 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 2.6% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 2.6% | |
| 8 | Duct: hvac, cable, exhaust, heating, or AC | 2 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 2 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Wildland, woods | 2 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 9 | 11.7% |
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 Ravenel mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 49 | 63.6% | |
| 2 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 6 | 7.8% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 5.2% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 4 | 5.2% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 4 | 5.2% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 2 | 2.6% | |
| 7 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 2.6% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 1.3% | |
| 10 | Heat from undetermined smoking material | 1 | 1.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 2 | 2.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Ravenel departments in 2025. These 7 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $80,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $52 | Gasoline or other flammable liquid spill | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Ravenel sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 24,866 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,765 | 42.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,933 | 39.0 mi | |
| 2002 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,922 | 43.7 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 1,834 | 35.3 mi | |
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,695 | 42.5 mi | |
| 2018 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,630 | 38.1 mi | |
| 2002 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,600 | 48.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 1,247 | 25.5 mi | |
| 2017 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,115 | 35.3 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 904 | 26.7 mi | |
| 2018 | Arson/incendiarism | 767 | 49.6 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 720 | 37.7 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 South Carolina cities with population within ±25% of Ravenel. 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.