In 2025, fire departments serving Travelers Rest responded to 115 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $40K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Unauthorized burning lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 63% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
939 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $589K cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 156 | — | |
| 2022 | 157 | +0.6% | |
| 2023 | 196 | +24.8% | |
| 2024 | 315 | +60.7% | |
| 2025 | 115 | -63.5% |
For the 10 building fires Travelers Rest departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 304 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 | 52 | 17.1% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 45 | 14.8% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 38 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 36 | 11.8% | |
| 5 | Wildland, woods | 29 | 9.5% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 17 | 5.6% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 17 | 5.6% | |
| 8 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 9 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 6 | 2.0% | |
| 10 | Vehicle area, other | 6 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 49 | 16.1% |
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 Travelers Rest mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 164 | 53.9% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 23 | 7.6% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 23 | 7.6% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 12 | 3.9% | |
| 5 | Cigarette lighter | 10 | 3.3% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 8 | 2.6% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 7 | 2.3% | |
| 8 | Heat, spark from friction | 7 | 2.3% | |
| 9 | Heat source: other | 6 | 2.0% | |
| 10 | Fireworks | 6 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 38 | 12.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Travelers Rest departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $40,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $30,000 | Grass fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $5,000 | Forest, woods or wildland fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $2,000 | Grass fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $50 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $50 | Grass fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Travelers Rest sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 31,944 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 10,623 | 17.9 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 7,913 | 36.5 mi | |
| 2001 | Debris and open burning | 2,235 | 43.1 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,477 | 31.8 mi | |
| 1993 | Natural | 1,050 | 39.6 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 800 | 49.7 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 740 | 46.5 mi | |
| 2017 | Recreation and ceremony | 570 | 49.2 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 524 | 34.0 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 493 | 49.0 mi | |
| 2014 | Recreation and ceremony | 468 | 21.9 mi | |
| 1993 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 450 | 49.9 mi |
Top 5 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 Travelers Rest. 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.