In 2025, fire departments serving Williston responded to 73 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $120K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Aircraft standby lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 78% of all calls.
Feb peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
409 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $2.6M cumulative property loss. 5 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 101 | — | |
| 2022 | 61 | -39.6% | |
| 2023 | 72 | +18.0% | |
| 2024 | 102 | +41.7% | |
| 2025 | 73 | -28.4% |
For the 21 building fires Williston departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 137 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 | 19.7% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 24 | 17.5% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 15 | 10.9% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 13 | 9.5% | |
| 5 | Wildland, woods | 11 | 8.0% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 9 | 6.6% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 7 | 5.1% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 4 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 4 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Exterior, exposed surface | 3 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 20 | 14.6% |
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 Williston mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 74 | 54.0% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 9 | 6.6% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 8 | 5.8% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 8 | 5.8% | |
| 5 | Heat, spark from friction | 5 | 3.6% | |
| 6 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 5 | 3.6% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 4 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Match | 4 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Cigarette lighter | 3 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 14 | 10.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Williston departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 90% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $120,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $30,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $25,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Williston sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
6 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 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 0 | |
| 30-39 | 0 | |
| 40-49 | 0 | |
| 50-59 | 2 | |
| 60-69 | 1 | |
| 70-79 | 2 | |
| 80+ | 1 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 8,848 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Debris and open burning | 950 | 13.5 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 709 | 46.4 mi | |
| 1993 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 650 | 22.2 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 586 | 28.9 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 481 | 29.2 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 373 | 27.1 mi | |
| 1993 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 373 | 41.5 mi | |
| 1997 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 350 | 35.7 mi | |
| 2008 | Arson/incendiarism | 346 | 44.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 316 | 38.1 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 8.6 mi | |
| 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 290 | 38.7 mi |
Top 3 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six South Carolina cities with population within ±25% of Williston. 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.