Home› Counties› SC› Fairfield County
2025 County Report

Fires in Fairfield County, SC

In 2025, fire departments serving Fairfield County responded to 323 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $40K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Moderate.

5,226 residents FIPS 45039 27 cities · 3 fire depts
Total incidents
323
1,386 across 5 years
Building fires
36
84 wildland
Property loss
$189K
$158K structure · $30K contents
Casualties
0 / 0
0 civ deaths · 0 civ inj · 0 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire lead by count. Top five categories make up about 48% of all calls.

323
Total Incidents
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 39 12.1%
Building fires 36 11.1%
Passenger vehicle fire 29 9.0%
Aircraft standby 29 9.0%
Power line down 23 7.1%
All other categories 167 51.7%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Fairfield County?

Mar peaks. Aug dips.

Jan 38
Feb 32
Mar 44
Apr 31
May 18
Jun 32
Jul 26
Aug 16
Sep 26
Oct 20
Nov 18
Dec 22
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Fairfield County

1,386 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 255
2022 248
2023 246
2024 314
2025 323
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 36 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
46%
55
Cause undetermined
19%
23
Intentional / arson
9%
11
Equipment / heat source failure
8%
10
Under investigation
9%
11
Act of nature (lightning)
9%
4
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $121K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Fairfield County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 76% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $40,000 WINNSBORO Building fires Significant
2 $20,000 WINNSBORO Building fires Significant
3 $15,000 WINNSBORO Passenger vehicle fire Significant
4 $10,000 RIDGEWAY Passenger vehicle fire Significant
5 $8,000 RIDGEWAY Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other Significant
6 $7,000 Winnsboro Building fires Significant
7 $6,000 RIDGEWAY Passenger vehicle fire Significant
8 $5,000 WINNSBORO Building fires Significant
9 $5,000 WINNSBORO Passenger vehicle fire Significant
10 $5,000 RIDGEWAY Building fires Significant
06 How Fairfield County compares

Fairfield County vs SC vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

61.81
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Fairfield County
61.81
SC avg
18.56
US avg
7.15
6.89
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Fairfield County
6.89
SC avg
2.67
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Fairfield County
0
SC avg
23.4
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Fairfield County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 45039.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Fairfield County

3 departments report from this county.

Fairfield County
—
FDID 20101 341 incidents
Central Volunteer Fire Depart
Central
FDID 39201 48 incidents 55 vol
Winnsboro FD
Winnsboro
FDID 20310 8 incidents 20 paid 5 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.