Home› Counties› SC› Calhoun County
2025 County Report

Fires in Calhoun County, SC

In 2025, fire departments serving Calhoun County responded to 180 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $350K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Moderate.

2,418 residents FIPS 45017 13 cities · 3 fire depts
Total incidents
180
811 across 5 years
Building fires
31
62 wildland
Property loss
$1.4M
$1.0M structure · $375K 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 57% of all calls.

180
Total Incidents
Building fires 31 17.2%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 24 13.3%
Forest, woods or wildland fire 21 11.7%
Grass fire 14 7.8%
Authorized controlled burning 12 6.7%
All other categories 78 43.3%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Calhoun County?

Feb peaks. Nov dips.

Jan 23
Feb 36
Mar 32
Apr 6
May 9
Jun 19
Jul 11
Aug 8
Sep 14
Oct 6
Nov 4
Dec 12
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Calhoun County

811 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 127
2022 121
2023 159
2024 224
2025 180
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 31 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
54%
22
Cause undetermined
22%
9
Intentional / arson
2%
1
Equipment / heat source failure
17%
7
Under investigation
2%
1
Act of nature (lightning)
3%
1
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $940K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Calhoun County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 93% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $350,000 Cameron Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire Major
2 $120,000 Cameron Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence Significant
3 $80,000 St Matthews Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence Significant
4 $80,000 St Matthews Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence Significant
5 $75,000 Cameron Building fires Significant
6 $55,000 Saint Matthews Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire Significant
7 $50,000 ST MATTHEWS Building fires Significant
8 $50,000 St Matthews Building fires Significant
9 $50,000 Cameron Building fires Significant
10 $30,000 Saint Matthews Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire Significant
06 How Calhoun County compares

Calhoun County vs SC vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

74.44
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Calhoun County
74.44
SC avg
18.56
US avg
7.15
12.82
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Calhoun County
12.82
SC avg
2.67
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Calhoun County
0
SC avg
23.4
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Calhoun County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 45017.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Calhoun County

3 departments report from this county.

St Matthews FD
ST MATTHEWS
FDID 09303 46 incidents 3 paid
Jumper FD
—
FDID 09207 0 incidents
Midway FD
—
FDID 09208 0 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.