In 2025, fire departments serving Springfield responded to 87 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 55% of all calls.
Feb peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
460 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $161K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 78 | — | |
| 2022 | 101 | +29.5% | |
| 2023 | 95 | -5.9% | |
| 2024 | 99 | +4.2% | |
| 2025 | 87 | -12.1% |
For the 10 building fires Springfield departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 275 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 | 48 | 17.5% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 46 | 16.7% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 44 | 16.0% | |
| 4 | Wildland, woods | 28 | 10.2% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 18 | 6.5% | |
| 6 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 18 | 6.5% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 9 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 6 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 5 | 1.8% | |
| 10 | Vehicle area, other | 5 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 48 | 17.5% |
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 Springfield mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 127 | 46.2% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 32 | 11.6% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 16 | 5.8% | |
| 4 | Cigarette lighter | 12 | 4.4% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 11 | 4.0% | |
| 6 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 11 | 4.0% | |
| 7 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 10 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 10 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 9 | 3.3% | |
| 10 | Heat source: other | 8 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 29 | 10.5% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Springfield sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 15,491 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Debris and open burning | 1,245 | 18.7 mi | |
| 2007 | Natural | 1,076 | 38.3 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 1,016 | 19.9 mi | |
| 2000 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 916 | 19.7 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 827 | 23.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 791 | 43.1 mi | |
| 1999 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 789 | 13.8 mi | |
| 1994 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 761 | 21.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 760 | 48.0 mi | |
| 2007 | Arson/incendiarism | 713 | 28.9 mi | |
| 2007 | Debris and open burning | 663 | 22.4 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 586 | 47.3 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 Georgia cities with population within ±25% of Springfield. 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.