In 2025, fire departments serving Yemassee responded to 76 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $400K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 70% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Jul dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
450 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $7.4M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 70 | — | |
| 2022 | 91 | +30.0% | |
| 2023 | 114 | +25.3% | |
| 2024 | 99 | -13.2% | |
| 2025 | 76 | -23.2% |
For the 5 building fires Yemassee departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 243 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 | 58 | 23.9% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 34 | 14.0% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 26 | 10.7% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 25 | 10.3% | |
| 5 | Wildland, woods | 19 | 7.8% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 15 | 6.2% | |
| 7 | Exterior, exposed surface | 8 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Cooking area, kitchen | 6 | 2.5% | |
| 9 | Vehicle area, other | 5 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Wall surface: exterior | 4 | 1.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 43 | 17.7% |
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 Yemassee mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 121 | 49.8% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 15 | 6.2% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 13 | 5.3% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 11 | 4.5% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 11 | 4.5% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 9 | 3.7% | |
| 7 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 8 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Heat, spark from friction | 7 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 6 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 6 | 2.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 36 | 14.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Yemassee departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 94% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $400,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $100,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $100,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $70,000 | Outside equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $60,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $30,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Yemassee sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 13,277 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 | 1,247 | 37.0 mi | |
| 1994 | Debris and open burning | 1,245 | 37.5 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 1,016 | 38.4 mi | |
| 1999 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 789 | 37.5 mi | |
| 1994 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 761 | 38.9 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 709 | 22.5 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 586 | 48.3 mi | |
| 1994 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 571 | 18.0 mi | |
| 2001 | Equipment and vehicle use | 549 | 46.1 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 480 | 39.6 mi | |
| 1995 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 460 | 37.0 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 436 | 39.0 mi |
Top 5 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 Yemassee. 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.