In 2025, fire departments serving Richland responded to 75 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $75K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 60% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
302 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $858K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 49 | — | |
| 2022* | 20 | — | |
| 2023 | 76 | — | |
| 2024 | 82 | +7.9% | |
| 2025 | 75 | -8.5% |
* Well below Richland'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 5 building fires Richland departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 98 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 | 30 | 30.6% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 17 | 17.3% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 10 | 10.2% | |
| 4 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 5 | 5.1% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 3.1% | |
| 6 | Duct: hvac, cable, exhaust, heating, or AC | 3 | 3.1% | |
| 7 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 3 | 3.1% | |
| 8 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 2.0% | |
| 9 | Office | 2 | 2.0% | |
| 10 | Storage: supplies or tools; dead storage | 2 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 21 | 21.4% |
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 Richland mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 57 | 58.2% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 10 | 10.2% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 7 | 7.1% | |
| 4 | Heat, spark from friction | 6 | 6.1% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 3.1% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 2.0% | |
| 7 | Heat from undetermined smoking material | 2 | 2.0% | |
| 8 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 2 | 2.0% | |
| 9 | Lightning | 2 | 2.0% | |
| 10 | Molten, hot material | 1 | 1.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 6 | 6.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Richland departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $75,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $71,700 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $8,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $5,000 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $1,000 | Grass fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $1 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Richland sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 13,476 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Debris and open burning | 4,152 | 20.0 mi | |
| 1994 | Debris and open burning | 1,001 | 38.3 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 682 | 33.0 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 600 | 40.3 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 550 | 23.1 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 510 | 42.3 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 493 | 17.9 mi | |
| 1993 | Arson/incendiarism | 486 | 38.6 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 450 | 14.6 mi | |
| 2007 | Arson/incendiarism | 378 | 46.7 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 363 | 42.3 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 350 | 19.6 mi |
Top 2 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Mississippi cities with population within ±25% of Richland. 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.