Home› Counties› SC› Edgefield County
2025 County Report

Fires in Edgefield County, SC

In 2025, fire departments serving Edgefield County responded to 143 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $1.0M property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Moderate.

6,665 residents FIPS 45037 21 cities · 5 fire depts
Total incidents
143
537 across 5 years
Building fires
20
13 wildland
Property loss
$2.2M
$1.9M structure · $317K contents
Casualties
0 / 0
0 civ deaths · 0 civ inj · 0 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Hazardous condition, other lead by count. Top five categories make up about 71% of all calls.

143
Total Incidents
Hazardous condition, other 44 30.8%
Building fires 20 14.0%
Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire 15 10.5%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 12 8.4%
Power line down 11 7.7%
All other categories 41 28.7%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Edgefield County?

Jan peaks. Oct dips.

Jan 27
Feb 6
Mar 19
Apr 11
May 25
Jun 18
Jul 7
Aug 5
Sep 6
Oct 3
Nov 12
Dec 4
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Edgefield County

537 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 113
2022 75
2023 88
2024 118
2025 143
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 20 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
64%
7
Cause undetermined
18%
2
Intentional / arson
9%
1
Equipment / heat source failure
0%
0
Under investigation
0%
0
Act of nature (lightning)
9%
1
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $1.9M in losses

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

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $1,000,000 Johnston Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence Major
2 $269,000 Trenton Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire Major
3 $200,000 Johnston Building fires Significant
4 $200,000 Johnston Building fires Significant
5 $150,000 JOHNSTON Building fires Significant
6 $50,000 EDGEFIELD Fires in structures other than in a building Significant
7 $30,000 Trenton Passenger vehicle fire Significant
8 $8,000 EDGEFIELD Overheated motor Significant
9 $5,000 EDGEFIELD Chimney or flue fire, confined to chimney or flue Significant
10 $5,000 Edgefield Chimney or flue fire, confined to chimney or flue Significant
06 How Edgefield County compares

Edgefield County vs SC vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

21.46
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Edgefield County
21.46
SC avg
18.56
US avg
7.15
3
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Edgefield County
3
SC avg
2.67
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Edgefield County
0
SC avg
23.4
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Edgefield County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 45037.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Edgefield County

5 departments report from this county.

Merriwether VFD
—
FDID 19205 158 incidents
Edgefield FD
—
FDID 19201 82 incidents
Trenton FD
—
FDID 19203 15 incidents
County Line FD
—
FDID 19204 0 incidents
Northside FD
—
FDID 19207 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.