In 2025, fire departments serving Smyrna responded to 249 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $50K 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 65% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,025 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $767K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 164 | — | |
| 2022 | 154 | -6.1% | |
| 2023 | 206 | +33.8% | |
| 2024 | 252 | +22.3% | |
| 2025 | 249 | -1.2% |
For the 55 building fires Smyrna departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 287 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 | 114 | 39.7% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 31 | 10.8% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 25 | 8.7% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 15 | 5.2% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 14 | 4.9% | |
| 6 | Vehicle area, other | 9 | 3.1% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 9 | 3.1% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 7 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 7 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 6 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 50 | 17.4% |
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 Smyrna mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 229 | 79.8% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 12 | 4.2% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 12 | 4.2% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 8 | 2.8% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 7 | 2.4% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 4 | 1.4% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 0.7% | |
| 8 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 0.7% | |
| 9 | Match | 2 | 0.7% | |
| 10 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 0.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 8 | 2.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Smyrna departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $50,000 | Dumpster or other outside trash receptacle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Smyrna sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 14,214 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,107 | 45.5 mi | |
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,000 | 11.9 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,535 | 26.7 mi | |
| 2020 | Natural | 1,518 | 27.7 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,250 | 31.1 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 765 | 29.5 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 569 | 39.8 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 522 | 25.0 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 500 | 11.5 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 470 | 34.3 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 408 | 47.8 mi | |
| 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 390 | 45.9 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 Delaware cities with population within ±25% of Smyrna. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Smyrna.
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.