In 2025, fire departments serving Walls responded to 50 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $200K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Grass fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 60% of all calls.
Feb peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
253 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $615K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 55 | — | |
| 2022 | 34 | -38.2% | |
| 2023 | 66 | +94.1% | |
| 2024 | 48 | -27.3% | |
| 2025 | 50 | +4.2% |
For the 7 building fires Walls departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 72 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 | 29 | 40.3% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 9 | 12.5% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 9 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 4.2% | |
| 5 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 3 | 4.2% | |
| 6 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 3 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 3 | 4.2% | |
| 8 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Exterior, exposed surface | 2 | 2.8% | |
| 10 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 8 | 11.1% |
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 Walls mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 44 | 61.1% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 5 | 6.9% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 4 | 5.6% | |
| 4 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 4 | 5.6% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 4.2% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Fireworks | 2 | 2.8% | |
| 8 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 2 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Heat source: other | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 10 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 1.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 3 | 4.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Walls departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $2,000 | Dumpster or other outside trash receptacle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $1,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $1,000 | Grass fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Walls sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 14,466 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,200 | 33.0 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,130 | 48.5 mi | |
| 1996 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 1,092 | 48.9 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,007 | 46.5 mi | |
| 1993 | Arson/incendiarism | 891 | 45.5 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 870 | 40.4 mi | |
| 1993 | Debris and open burning | 770 | 40.2 mi | |
| 1996 | Equipment and vehicle use | 750 | 32.4 mi | |
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 637 | 28.9 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 636 | 34.2 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 500 | 38.7 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 500 | 46.3 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 Mississippi cities with population within ±25% of Walls. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Walls.
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.