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2025 County Report

Fires in Bamberg County, SC

In 2025, fire departments serving Bamberg County responded to 77 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $40K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Moderate.

6,927 residents FIPS 45009 15 cities · 3 fire depts
Total incidents
77
1,028 across 5 years
Building fires
13
13 wildland
Property loss
$147K
$123K structure · $24K contents
Casualties
0 / 0
0 civ deaths · 0 civ inj · 0 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Building fires lead by count. Top five categories make up about 56% of all calls.

77
Total Incidents
Building fires 13 16.9%
Aircraft standby 12 15.6%
Grass fire 8 10.4%
Trash or rubbish fire, contained 5 6.5%
Outside rubbish fire, other 5 6.5%
All other categories 34 44.2%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Bamberg County?

Jan peaks. Jun dips.

Jan 26
Feb 14
Mar 19
Apr 7
May 6
Jun 0
Jul 1
Aug 2
Sep 0
Oct 0
Nov 1
Dec 1
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Bamberg County

1,028 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 213
2022 205
2023 237
2024 296
2025 77
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 13 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
58%
11
Cause undetermined
5%
1
Intentional / arson
0%
0
Equipment / heat source failure
21%
4
Under investigation
5%
1
Act of nature (lightning)
11%
1
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $123K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Bamberg County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 100% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $40,000 Olar Building fires Significant
2 $25,000 Denmark Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence Significant
3 $25,000 Denmark Building fires Significant
4 $10,000 denmark Passenger vehicle fire Significant
5 $10,000 Denmark Building fires Significant
6 $5,000 Denmark Grass fire Significant
7 $4,500 Bamberg Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle Significant
8 $1,500 Bamberg Building fires Significant
9 $1,200 Bamberg Building fires Significant
10 $800 Bamberg Building fires Significant
06 How Bamberg County compares

Bamberg County vs SC vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

11.12
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Bamberg County
11.12
SC avg
18.56
US avg
7.15
1.88
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Bamberg County
1.88
SC avg
2.67
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Bamberg County
0
SC avg
23.4
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Bamberg County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 45009.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Bamberg County

3 departments report from this county.

Bamberg City FD
—
FDID 05301 50 incidents
Caw Caw VFD
St Matthews
FDID 09206 23 incidents
Ehrhardt FD
—
FDID 05203 1 incidents
09 Historical wildfires

Largest fires recorded in SC

Top 10 fire perimeters by acres burned (state-scoped fallback while we build out per-county polygons).

#NameYearAgencyAcres
1 Turn Table 2017 USFS 1,694
2 SCWAR-FY19-RX-Sandy Island 2019 2019 PRI 1,655
3 Memorial 2019 USFS 1,635
4 Cumbee 2018 USFS 1,629
5 Bullhead 2017 USFS 1,115
6 SCCRR-FY19-RX-0803 2019 FWS 1,038
7 Mill Mountain 2023 USFS 935
8 Keepers Branch 2018 USFS 766
9 SCCRR-FY19-RX-0704 2019 FWS 730
10 Calestown 2018 USFS 616

About this data

County-level NFIRS aggregates for 2025, plus 5-year totals across 2021–2025. NFIRS is voluntary — about 23,000 of roughly 30,000 US fire departments report — so totals are a strong indicator, not a complete census. Wildfire risk score (0–100) and Expected Annual Loss come from FEMA's National Risk Index. Drought class is the most recent USDM classification (D0 = abnormally dry through D4 = exceptional drought). Historical fire perimeters are sourced from the NIFC InterAgency Fire Perimeter History.