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2025 County Report

Fires in Florence County, SC

In 2025, fire departments serving Florence County responded to 1,059 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $350K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Very High.

53,731 residents FIPS 45041 66 cities · 6 fire depts
Total incidents
1,059
7,671 across 5 years
Building fires
187
273 wildland
Property loss
$8.6M
$6.7M structure · $1.9M contents
Casualties
3 / 3
3 civ deaths · 2 civ inj · 1 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Building fires lead by count. Top five categories make up about 53% of all calls.

1,059
Total Incidents
Building fires 187 17.7%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 128 12.1%
Forest, woods or wildland fire 86 8.1%
Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire 80 7.6%
Arcing, shorted electrical equipment 79 7.5%
All other categories 499 47.1%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Florence County?

Mar peaks. Dec dips.

Jan 166
Feb 172
Mar 211
Apr 124
May 97
Jun 71
Jul 54
Aug 33
Sep 40
Oct 32
Nov 49
Dec 10
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Florence County

7,671 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 1,734
2022 1,816
2023 1,460
2024 1,602
2025 1,059
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 187 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
37%
208
Cause undetermined
32%
177
Intentional / arson
13%
70
Equipment / heat source failure
8%
45
Under investigation
7%
39
Act of nature (lightning)
3%
10
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $2.5M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Florence County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 38% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $350,000 Timmonsville Building fires Major
2 $300,000 Florence Building fires Major
3 $300,000 PAMPLICO Building fires Major
4 $250,000 Florence Building fires Major
5 $250,000 Florence Building fires Major
6 $250,000 Florence Building fires Major
7 $246,000 Florence Building fires Significant
8 $200,000 Florence Building fires Significant
9 $200,000 Florence Building fires Significant
10 $200,000 Florence Building fires Significant
06 How Florence County compares

Florence County vs SC vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

19.71
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Florence County
19.71
SC avg
18.56
US avg
7.15
3.48
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Florence County
3.48
SC avg
2.67
US avg
0.82
55.8
Civilian fire deaths per million
Florence County
55.8
SC avg
23.4
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Florence County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 45041.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Florence County

6 departments report from this county.

Florence FD
—
FDID 21101 225 incidents
South Lynches FD
—
FDID 21302 158 incidents
Howe Springs FD
Florence
FDID 21223 123 incidents
Windy Hill FD
—
FDID 21210 98 incidents
Lake City FD
—
FDID 21305 40 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.