In 2025, fire departments serving Trafford responded to 22 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 77% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jul dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
77 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $455K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 9 | — | |
| 2022 | 19 | — | |
| 2023* | 8 | — | |
| 2024 | 19 | — | |
| 2025 | 22 | +15.8% |
* Well below Trafford'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 5 building fires Trafford departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 36 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 | 14 | 38.9% | |
| 2 | Other | 7 | 19.4% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 4 | 11.1% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 5.6% | |
| 5 | Structural area, other | 2 | 5.6% | |
| 6 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 5.6% | |
| 7 | Exterior stairway, ramp, or fire escape | 1 | 2.8% | |
| 8 | Escalator - exterior, interior | 1 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Storage area, other | 1 | 2.8% | |
| 10 | Outside area, other | 1 | 2.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 1 | 2.8% |
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 Trafford mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 18 | 50.0% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 5 | 13.9% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 5 | 13.9% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 5.6% | |
| 5 | Cigarette lighter | 2 | 5.6% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 2.8% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 2.8% | |
| 8 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 1 | 2.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Trafford departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $50,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $25,000 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $3,500 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $100 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $100 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $100 | Forest, woods or wildland fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $100 | Forest, woods or wildland fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $100 | Forest, woods or wildland fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Trafford sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 24,911 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 2,950 | 34.0 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,784 | 42.7 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,500 | 49.9 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 1,800 | 49.7 mi | |
| 1996 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,540 | 26.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,308 | 15.3 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 1,100 | 30.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 919 | 33.2 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 890 | 15.4 mi | |
| 2016 | Equipment and vehicle use | 800 | 48.9 mi | |
| 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 700 | 24.4 mi | |
| 1999 | Equipment and vehicle use | 660 | 24.0 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 Trafford. 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.