In 2025, fire departments serving Summerdale responded to 91 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $20K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Aircraft standby lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 61% of all calls.
Sep peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
422 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $497K cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 70 | — | |
| 2022 | 65 | -7.1% | |
| 2023 | 94 | +44.6% | |
| 2024 | 102 | +8.5% | |
| 2025 | 91 | -10.8% |
For the 13 building fires Summerdale departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 122 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 | 38 | 31.1% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 25 | 20.5% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 17 | 13.9% | |
| 4 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 7 | 5.7% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 5 | 4.1% | |
| 6 | Other | 4 | 3.3% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 2.5% | |
| 8 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 3 | 2.5% | |
| 9 | Wildland, woods | 3 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Wall assembly | 2 | 1.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 15 | 12.3% |
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 Summerdale mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 73 | 59.8% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 8 | 6.6% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 7 | 5.7% | |
| 4 | Cigarette lighter | 5 | 4.1% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 4 | 3.3% | |
| 6 | Match | 4 | 3.3% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 2.5% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 3 | 2.5% | |
| 9 | Lightning | 3 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 1.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 10 | 8.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Summerdale departments in 2025. These 7 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $15,000 | Outside equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $7,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $6,000 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $500 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $250 | Trash or rubbish fire, contained | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Summerdale sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 43,975 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,490 | 44.2 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 4,394 | 35.8 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 4,248 | 45.1 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,400 | 49.6 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 2,215 | 37.1 mi | |
| 2009 | Debris and open burning | 2,100 | 35.8 mi | |
| 2006 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,846 | 8.3 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 1,600 | 14.6 mi | |
| 2015 | Natural | 1,594 | 28.2 mi | |
| 2012 | Natural | 1,555 | 10.7 mi | |
| 1993 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,500 | 43.5 mi | |
| 2015 | Natural | 1,306 | 47.6 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 Summerdale. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Summerdale.
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.