In 2025, fire departments serving West Blocton responded to 15 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 67% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
95 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 4 | — | |
| 2022 | 21 | — | |
| 2023 | 29 | +38.1% | |
| 2024 | 26 | -10.3% | |
| 2025 | 15 | -42.3% |
* Well below West Blocton'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 3 building fires West Blocton departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 66 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 | 27 | 40.9% | |
| 2 | Wildland, woods | 13 | 19.7% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 8 | 12.1% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 5 | 7.6% | |
| 5 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 3.0% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 2 | 3.0% | |
| 7 | Other | 1 | 1.5% | |
| 8 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 1.5% | |
| 9 | Closet | 1 | 1.5% | |
| 10 | Equipment or service area, other | 1 | 1.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 5 | 7.6% |
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 West Blocton mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 40 | 60.6% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 6 | 9.1% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 4.5% | |
| 4 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 3 | 4.5% | |
| 5 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 3 | 4.5% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 2 | 3.0% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 3.0% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Cigarette lighter | 2 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 1.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 2 | 3.0% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. West Blocton sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 25,579 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 2,950 | 20.8 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,784 | 24.7 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,590 | 25.9 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,925 | 17.1 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 1,800 | 33.5 mi | |
| 1996 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,540 | 44.1 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,262 | 22.3 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 1,100 | 36.9 mi | |
| 2019 | Arson/incendiarism | 721 | 23.0 mi | |
| 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 700 | 33.7 mi | |
| 1999 | Equipment and vehicle use | 660 | 35.7 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 657 | 26.3 mi |
Top 4 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 West Blocton. 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.