In 2025, fire departments serving Santee responded to 128 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $600K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 70% of all calls.
Feb peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
550 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $2.6M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 106 | — | |
| 2022 | 88 | -17.0% | |
| 2023 | 93 | +5.7% | |
| 2024 | 135 | +45.2% | |
| 2025 | 128 | -5.2% |
For the 40 building fires Santee departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 145 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 | 73 | 50.3% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 10 | 6.9% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 9 | 6.2% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 7 | 4.8% | |
| 5 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 6 | 4.1% | |
| 6 | Vehicle area, other | 5 | 3.4% | |
| 7 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 5 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Storage area, other | 4 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 3 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 3 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 20 | 13.8% |
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 Santee mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 97 | 66.9% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 13 | 9.0% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 7 | 4.8% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 5 | 3.4% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 5 | 3.4% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 4 | 2.8% | |
| 7 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 4 | 2.8% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 2.1% | |
| 9 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 1.4% | |
| 10 | Arcing | 1 | 0.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 4 | 2.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Santee departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 93% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $600,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $25,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Santee sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 26,268 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,684 | 20.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,484 | 42.1 mi | |
| 2002 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,922 | 36.2 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 1,834 | 43.4 mi | |
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,695 | 37.7 mi | |
| 2002 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,600 | 33.0 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 1,247 | 26.7 mi | |
| 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,200 | 23.8 mi | |
| 2017 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,115 | 40.5 mi | |
| 2007 | Debris and open burning | 985 | 42.9 mi | |
| 1994 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 862 | 34.8 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 709 | 37.8 mi |
Top 6 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 Santee. 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.