In 2025, fire departments serving South Congaree responded to 16 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $500 building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Unauthorized burning lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 94% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jul dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
101 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $317K cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 25 | — | |
| 2022 | 31 | +24.0% | |
| 2023* | 7 | — | |
| 2024 | 22 | — | |
| 2025 | 16 | -27.3% |
* Well below South Congaree'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 1 building fires South Congaree departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 42 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 | Outside area, other | 12 | 28.6% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 5 | 11.9% | |
| 3 | Wildland, woods | 5 | 11.9% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 5 | 11.9% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 9.5% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 7.1% | |
| 7 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 4.8% | |
| 8 | Corridor, mall | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Storage: supplies or tools; dead storage | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 3 | 7.1% |
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 South Congaree mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 27 | 64.3% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 4 | 9.5% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 7.1% | |
| 4 | Cigarette | 2 | 4.8% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 7 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 8 | Cigarette lighter | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Chemical reaction | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 1 | 2.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by South Congaree departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. South Congaree sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 13,860 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 | 39.3 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,484 | 18.9 mi | |
| 2007 | Debris and open burning | 985 | 28.5 mi | |
| 2017 | Debris and open burning | 950 | 41.4 mi | |
| 1993 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 650 | 25.7 mi | |
| 1997 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 350 | 45.3 mi | |
| 1997 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 350 | 43.1 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 316 | 43.0 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 310 | 46.7 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 47.2 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 47.3 mi | |
| 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 290 | 10.2 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 South Carolina cities with population within ±25% of South Congaree. 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.