In 2025, fire departments serving Swansea responded to 90 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $148K 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 54% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jul dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
539 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $3.0M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 101 | — | |
| 2022 | 128 | +26.7% | |
| 2023 | 89 | -30.5% | |
| 2024 | 131 | +47.2% | |
| 2025 | 90 | -31.3% |
For the 13 building fires Swansea departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 228 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 | 64 | 28.1% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 32 | 14.0% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 27 | 11.8% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 18 | 7.9% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 15 | 6.6% | |
| 6 | Wildland, woods | 15 | 6.6% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 8 | 3.5% | |
| 8 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 7 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 6 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 4 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 32 | 14.0% |
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 Swansea mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 136 | 59.6% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 11 | 4.8% | |
| 3 | Cigarette lighter | 10 | 4.4% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 9 | 3.9% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 9 | 3.9% | |
| 6 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 8 | 3.5% | |
| 7 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 7 | 3.1% | |
| 8 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 6 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 6 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 4 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 22 | 9.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Swansea departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 88% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $147,600 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $100,000 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $100,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $45,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $40,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $38,558 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $20,000 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Swansea sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 14,337 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 | 36.5 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,484 | 24.7 mi | |
| 2007 | Debris and open burning | 985 | 33.6 mi | |
| 2017 | Debris and open burning | 950 | 35.6 mi | |
| 1993 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 650 | 13.8 mi | |
| 2001 | Equipment and vehicle use | 549 | 46.7 mi | |
| 1993 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 373 | 42.3 mi | |
| 1998 | Natural | 368 | 46.1 mi | |
| 1997 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 350 | 34.0 mi | |
| 1993 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 332 | 44.3 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 316 | 32.2 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 37.8 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 Swansea. 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.