In 2025, fire departments serving Valley Head responded to 21 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Forest, woods or wildland fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 81% of all calls.
Mar peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
102 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $300K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 2 | — | |
| 2022 | 13 | — | |
| 2023 | 36 | +176.9% | |
| 2024 | 30 | -16.7% | |
| 2025 | 21 | -30.0% |
* Well below Valley Head'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 4 building fires Valley Head departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 33 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 | 51.5% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 6 | 18.2% | |
| 3 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 3 | 9.1% | |
| 4 | Other | 2 | 6.1% | |
| 5 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 3.0% | |
| 6 | Equipment or service area, other | 1 | 3.0% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 1 | 3.0% | |
| 8 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 1 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Outside area, other | 1 | 3.0% |
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 Valley Head mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 29 | 87.9% | |
| 2 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 6.1% | |
| 3 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 3.0% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 3.0% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Valley Head sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 34,763 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,321 | 48.8 mi | |
| 2007 | Debris and open burning | 3,000 | 38.1 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 2,836 | 13.3 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 2,083 | 14.7 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,000 | 10.9 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,000 | 8.3 mi | |
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,636 | 28.3 mi | |
| 2006 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 1,448 | 8.5 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,350 | 47.3 mi | |
| 1999 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,281 | 37.8 mi | |
| 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,167 | 29.2 mi | |
| 2001 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 1,100 | 31.9 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 Alabama cities with population within ±25% of Valley Head. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Valley Head.
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.