In 2025, fire departments serving Vancleave responded to 73 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $250K building blaze. 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 64% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
319 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $1.5M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 0 | — | |
| 2022* | 1 | — | |
| 2023 | 103 | — | |
| 2024 | 142 | +37.9% | |
| 2025 | 73 | -48.6% |
* Well below Vancleave'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 2 building fires Vancleave departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 79 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 | 48 | 60.8% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 7 | 8.9% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 5 | 6.3% | |
| 4 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 2.5% | |
| 5 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 2 | 2.5% | |
| 6 | Egress/exit, other | 1 | 1.3% | |
| 7 | Arena, assembly area w/ fixed seats - 100+ persons | 1 | 1.3% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - 5+ persons; including barrack/dormitory | 1 | 1.3% | |
| 9 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 1.3% | |
| 10 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 1 | 1.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 10 | 12.7% |
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 Vancleave mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 56 | 70.9% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 5 | 6.3% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 5 | 6.3% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 3.8% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 2.5% | |
| 6 | Lightning | 2 | 2.5% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 1.3% | |
| 8 | Fireworks | 1 | 1.3% | |
| 9 | Cigarette | 1 | 1.3% | |
| 10 | Pipe or cigar | 1 | 1.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 2 | 2.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Vancleave departments in 2025. These 6 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $30,000 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $2,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $1,000 | Outside equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $500 | Outside storage fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Vancleave sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 65,290 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,717 | 46.5 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5,300 | 48.6 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 4,394 | 24.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 4,248 | 17.5 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,964 | 48.2 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,180 | 47.6 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,000 | 37.2 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,857 | 46.8 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,640 | 46.2 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,500 | 9.4 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,442 | 46.9 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,354 | 48.4 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 Mississippi cities with population within ±25% of Vancleave. 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.