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2025 County Report

Fires in Greenwood County, SC

In 2025, fire departments serving Greenwood County responded to 1,088 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $100.0M property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Moderate.

28,284 residents FIPS 45047 41 cities · 10 fire depts
Total incidents
1,088
5,281 across 5 years
Building fires
168
247 wildland
Property loss
$202.8M
$101.9M structure · $100.9M contents
Casualties
1 / 6
1 civ deaths · 2 civ inj · 4 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 50% of all calls.

1,088
Total Incidents
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 174 16.0%
Building fires 168 15.4%
Arcing, shorted electrical equipment 73 6.7%
Unauthorized burning 68 6.2%
Attempted burning, illegal action, other 65 6.0%
All other categories 540 49.6%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Greenwood County?

Mar peaks. Aug dips.

Jan 105
Feb 92
Mar 173
Apr 77
May 76
Jun 71
Jul 108
Aug 38
Sep 76
Oct 86
Nov 99
Dec 87
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Greenwood County

5,281 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 1,133
2022 1,187
2023 1,003
2024 870
2025 1,088
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 168 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
49%
159
Cause undetermined
26%
85
Intentional / arson
12%
40
Equipment / heat source failure
7%
22
Under investigation
3%
11
Act of nature (lightning)
3%
9
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $100.8M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Greenwood County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 99% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $100,000,000 GREENWOOD Garbage dump or sanitary landfill fire Catastrophic
2 $163,875 GREENWOOD Building fires Significant
3 $124,315 GREENWOOD Building fires Significant
4 $100,000 GREENWOOD Building fires Significant
5 $96,300 HODGES Building fires Significant
6 $75,000 Greenwood Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other Significant
7 $70,000 GREENWOOD Passenger vehicle fire Significant
8 $70,000 GREENWOOD Passenger vehicle fire Significant
9 $70,000 GREENWOOD Passenger vehicle fire Significant
10 $61,200 Ninety Six Building fires Significant
06 How Greenwood County compares

Greenwood County vs SC vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

38.47
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Greenwood County
38.47
SC avg
18.56
US avg
7.15
5.94
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Greenwood County
5.94
SC avg
2.67
US avg
0.82
35.4
Civilian fire deaths per million
Greenwood County
35.4
SC avg
23.4
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Greenwood County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 45047.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Greenwood County

10 departments report from this county.

Northwest Fire Rescue
—
FDID 24208 119 incidents
Coronaca FD
—
FDID 24201 116 incidents
Lower Lake Greenwood VFD
—
FDID 24206 110 incidents
Highway 34 Fire Rescue
—
FDID 24205 68 incidents
Ninety Six FD
—
FDID 24207 63 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.