In 2025, fire departments serving Vandiver responded to 11 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Hazardous condition, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 82% of all calls.
Feb peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
21 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 1 | — | |
| 2022* | 1 | — | |
| 2023* | 2 | — | |
| 2024 | 6 | — | |
| 2025 | 11 | +83.3% |
* Well below Vandiver'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 1 building fires Vandiver departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 6 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 | 2 | 33.3% | |
| 2 | Storage area, other | 1 | 16.7% | |
| 3 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 1 | 16.7% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 1 | 16.7% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 1 | 16.7% |
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 Vandiver mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 4 | 66.7% | |
| 2 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 16.7% | |
| 3 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 1 | 16.7% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Vandiver sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 31,357 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,108 | 38.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 2,950 | 32.7 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,784 | 46.3 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,500 | 39.9 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,229 | 37.9 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 1,800 | 23.5 mi | |
| 1996 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,540 | 2.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,308 | 38.6 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 1,100 | 5.5 mi | |
| 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,078 | 44.9 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,066 | 30.9 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 988 | 35.3 mi |
Top 2 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 Vandiver. 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.