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2025 County Report

Fires in Chester County, SC

In 2025, fire departments serving Chester County responded to 607 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $500K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Moderate.

11,700 residents FIPS 45023 30 cities · 3 fire depts
Total incidents
607
2,616 across 5 years
Building fires
95
130 wildland
Property loss
$4.0M
$2.9M structure · $1.2M contents
Casualties
1 / 1
1 civ deaths · 1 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 50% of all calls.

607
Total Incidents
Building fires 95 15.7%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 74 12.2%
Power line down 52 8.6%
Unauthorized burning 40 6.6%
Passenger vehicle fire 39 6.4%
All other categories 307 50.6%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Chester County?

Mar peaks. Dec dips.

Jan 48
Feb 69
Mar 101
Apr 51
May 35
Jun 36
Jul 60
Aug 49
Sep 34
Oct 46
Nov 51
Dec 27
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Chester County

2,616 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 509
2022 400
2023 483
2024 617
2025 607
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 95 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
42%
69
Cause undetermined
22%
36
Intentional / arson
12%
19
Equipment / heat source failure
17%
27
Under investigation
5%
8
Act of nature (lightning)
2%
3
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $2.1M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Chester County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 74% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $500,000 CHESTER Building fires Major
2 $300,000 EDGEMOOR Building fires Major
3 $280,000 Chester Building fires Major
4 $250,000 BLACKSTOCK Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire Major
5 $150,000 EDGEMOOR Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence Significant
6 $150,000 Edgemoor Building fires Significant
7 $150,000 CHESTER Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence Significant
8 $130,000 EDGEMOOR Building fires Significant
9 $120,000 CHESTER Building fires Significant
10 $90,000 EDGEMOOR Building fires Significant
06 How Chester County compares

Chester County vs SC vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

51.88
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Chester County
51.88
SC avg
18.56
US avg
7.15
8.12
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Chester County
8.12
SC avg
2.67
US avg
0.82
85.5
Civilian fire deaths per million
Chester County
85.5
SC avg
23.4
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Chester County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 45023.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Chester County

3 departments report from this county.

Greer FD
—
FDID 23313 196 incidents 23 paid
Chester City FD
—
FDID 12301 113 incidents
Great Falls FD
Great Falls
FDID 12303 86 incidents 3 paid 20 vol
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.