In 2025, fire departments serving Simpsonville responded to 38 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $50K 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 58% of all calls.
May peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
144 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $226K cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 3 | — | |
| 2022* | 5 | — | |
| 2023 | 56 | — | |
| 2024 | 42 | -25.0% | |
| 2025 | 38 | -9.5% |
* Well below Simpsonville'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 6 building fires Simpsonville departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 28 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 14.3% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 3 | 10.7% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 3 | 10.7% | |
| 4 | Other | 2 | 7.1% | |
| 5 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 7.1% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 7.1% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 7.1% | |
| 8 | Outside area, other | 2 | 7.1% | |
| 9 | Interior stairway or ramp | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 10 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 6 | 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 Simpsonville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 7 | 25.0% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 6 | 21.4% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 6 | 21.4% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 14.3% | |
| 5 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 7.1% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 7 | Cigarette | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Chemical, natural heat source, other | 1 | 3.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Simpsonville departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $1,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Simpsonville sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,406 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 354 | 23.8 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 33.4 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 182 | 48.2 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 144 | 35.9 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 45.2 mi | |
| 2009 | Debris and open burning | 97 | 14.9 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 95 | 49.0 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 95 | 30.7 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 92 | 34.7 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 80 | 43.2 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 80 | 28.5 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 80 | 38.3 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 Kentucky cities with population within ±25% of Simpsonville. 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.