In 2025, fire departments serving Sylvania responded to 31 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $50K 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 74% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
86 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $75K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 6 | — | |
| 2022* | 8 | — | |
| 2023 | 11 | — | |
| 2024 | 30 | +172.7% | |
| 2025 | 31 | +3.3% |
* Well below Sylvania'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 8 building fires Sylvania departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 27 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 | 17 | 63.0% | |
| 2 | Other | 2 | 7.4% | |
| 3 | Function area, other | 2 | 7.4% | |
| 4 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 5 | Closet | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 6 | Shipping/receiving area; loading area, dock or bay | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 7 | Duct: hvac, cable, exhaust, heating, or AC | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 9 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 1 | 3.7% |
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 Sylvania mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 21 | 77.8% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 11.1% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 3.7% | |
| 5 | Lightning | 1 | 3.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Sylvania departments in 2025. These 5 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $50,000 | Natural vegetation fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $2,000 | Outside equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $1,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $1 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $1 | Outside equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Sylvania sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 31,526 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Debris and open burning | 3,000 | 39.1 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 2,836 | 20.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 2,083 | 20.0 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,000 | 14.9 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,000 | 16.0 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,636 | 26.5 mi | |
| 2006 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 1,448 | 15.3 mi | |
| 1999 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,281 | 47.1 mi | |
| 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,167 | 31.3 mi | |
| 2001 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 1,100 | 36.0 mi | |
| 2007 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,075 | 41.4 mi | |
| 2007 | Debris and open burning | 1,010 | 22.5 mi |
Top 2 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 Sylvania. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Sylvania.
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.