In 2025, fire departments serving Steele responded to 18 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $30K 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 94% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
79 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $205K cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 3 | — | |
| 2022 | 13 | — | |
| 2023 | 22 | +69.2% | |
| 2024 | 23 | +4.5% | |
| 2025 | 18 | -21.7% |
* Well below Steele'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 9 building fires Steele departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 32 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 | 10 | 31.2% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 6 | 18.8% | |
| 3 | Other | 3 | 9.4% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 9.4% | |
| 5 | Function area, other | 2 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 7 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 8 | Structural area, other | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 10 | Vehicle area, other | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 3 | 9.4% |
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 Steele mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 16 | 50.0% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 5 | 15.6% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 9.4% | |
| 4 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 6.2% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 6 | Match | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 7 | Cigarette lighter | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 8 | Candle | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 10 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 1 | 3.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Steele departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Steele sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 35,441 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,321 | 44.8 mi | |
| 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,108 | 42.0 mi | |
| 2007 | Debris and open burning | 3,000 | 30.5 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,500 | 24.4 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,229 | 37.8 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,000 | 45.5 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,636 | 27.6 mi | |
| 1996 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,540 | 35.3 mi | |
| 2006 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 1,448 | 49.4 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,350 | 46.8 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,308 | 46.9 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 1,100 | 43.4 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 Alabama cities with population within ±25% of Steele. 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.