In 2025, fire departments serving Union City responded to 351 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $1.0M building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 49% of all calls.
Nov peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,132 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $6.2M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 185 | — | |
| 2022 | 156 | -15.7% | |
| 2023 | 181 | +16.0% | |
| 2024 | 259 | +43.1% | |
| 2025 | 351 | +35.5% |
For the 35 building fires Union City departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 223 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 | 60 | 26.9% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 56 | 25.1% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 13 | 5.8% | |
| 4 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 10 | 4.5% | |
| 5 | Vehicle area, other | 9 | 4.0% | |
| 6 | Wall surface: exterior | 8 | 3.6% | |
| 7 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 7 | 3.1% | |
| 8 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 7 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Outside area, other | 5 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Equipment or service area, other | 4 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 44 | 19.7% |
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 Union City mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 116 | 52.0% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 22 | 9.9% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 12 | 5.4% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 11 | 4.9% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 9 | 4.0% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 7 | 3.1% | |
| 7 | Candle | 7 | 3.1% | |
| 8 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 6 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Molten, hot material | 6 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 5 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 22 | 9.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Union City departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 83% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,000,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $420,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $400,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Major | Investigated |
| 4 | $300,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 5 | $250,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Major | Investigated |
| 6 | $125,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $125,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Union City sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 5,622 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 519 | 35.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 464 | 49.7 mi | |
| 1994 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 347 | 28.9 mi | |
| 2015 | Arson/incendiarism | 341 | 44.1 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 307 | 49.2 mi | |
| 2000 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 305 | 20.4 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 290 | 46.9 mi | |
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 265 | 49.8 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 234 | 38.0 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 225 | 49.9 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 199 | 44.9 mi | |
| 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 176 | 47.9 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 Georgia cities with population within ±25% of Union City. 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.