In 2025, fire departments serving Savannah responded to 263 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $220K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Accident, potential accident, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 54% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,260 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $8.7M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 229 | — | |
| 2022 | 273 | +19.2% | |
| 2023 | 243 | -11.0% | |
| 2024 | 252 | +3.7% | |
| 2025 | 263 | +4.4% |
For the 35 building fires Savannah departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 571 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 | 108 | 18.9% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 89 | 15.6% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 78 | 13.7% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 52 | 9.1% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 41 | 7.2% | |
| 6 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 21 | 3.7% | |
| 7 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 19 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 19 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Other | 17 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Wildland, woods | 15 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 112 | 19.6% |
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 Savannah mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 265 | 46.4% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 43 | 7.5% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 37 | 6.5% | |
| 4 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 27 | 4.7% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 25 | 4.4% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 25 | 4.4% | |
| 7 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 19 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 17 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Heat source: other | 14 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Cigarette lighter | 9 | 1.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 90 | 15.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Savannah departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 66% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $220,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $92,700 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $76,600 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $55,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $53,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Savannah sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 10,044 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,344 | 31.7 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 900 | 11.9 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 702 | 21.6 mi | |
| 2007 | Natural | 585 | 34.8 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 516 | 36.1 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 500 | 39.8 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 390 | 9.8 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 382 | 39.6 mi | |
| 1997 | Arson/incendiarism | 350 | 20.7 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 350 | 44.7 mi | |
| 2009 | Arson/incendiarism | 330 | 46.4 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 320 | 38.9 mi |
Top 5 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Tennessee cities with population within ±25% of Savannah. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Savannah.
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.