In 2025, fire departments serving Wetumpka responded to 144 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $300K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 55% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
955 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $2.0M cumulative property loss. 4 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 156 | — | |
| 2022 | 208 | +33.3% | |
| 2023 | 221 | +6.2% | |
| 2024 | 226 | +2.3% | |
| 2025 | 144 | -36.3% |
For the 14 building fires Wetumpka departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 483 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 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 128 | 26.5% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 99 | 20.5% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 45 | 9.3% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 33 | 6.8% | |
| 5 | Wildland, woods | 29 | 6.0% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 24 | 5.0% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 20 | 4.1% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 15 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Vehicle area, other | 13 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Other | 6 | 1.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 71 | 14.7% |
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 Wetumpka mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 311 | 64.4% | |
| 2 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 34 | 7.0% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 19 | 3.9% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 14 | 2.9% | |
| 5 | Match | 13 | 2.7% | |
| 6 | Cigarette lighter | 13 | 2.7% | |
| 7 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 11 | 2.3% | |
| 8 | Heat source: other | 9 | 1.9% | |
| 9 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 8 | 1.7% | |
| 10 | Lightning | 7 | 1.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 44 | 9.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Wetumpka departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 95% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $300,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $15,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $10,000 | Fire in portable building, fixed location | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $9,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $9,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Wetumpka sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
12 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 1 | |
| 20-29 | 4 | |
| 30-39 | 1 | |
| 40-49 | 0 | |
| 50-59 | 1 | |
| 60-69 | 2 | |
| 70-79 | 1 | |
| 80+ | 2 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 15,637 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,590 | 45.5 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 1,800 | 44.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 1,066 | 43.8 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,005 | 25.0 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 657 | 44.5 mi | |
| 2006 | Natural | 565 | 42.5 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 504 | 42.3 mi | |
| 2016 | Equipment and vehicle use | 502 | 39.2 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 481 | 28.4 mi | |
| 2002 | Arson/incendiarism | 480 | 47.8 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 471 | 47.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 450 | 25.8 mi |
Top 10 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 Wetumpka. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
5 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Wetumpka.
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.