Home› Counties› SC› Pickens County
2025 County Report

Fires in Pickens County, SC

In 2025, fire departments serving Pickens County responded to 1,526 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $650K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Moderate.

63,648 residents FIPS 45077 24 cities · 9 fire depts
Total incidents
1,526
7,316 across 5 years
Building fires
221
312 wildland
Property loss
$4.0M
$3.0M structure · $1.0M contents
Casualties
3 / 1
3 civ deaths · 0 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 56% of all calls.

1,526
Total Incidents
Building fires 221 14.5%
Unauthorized burning 202 13.2%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 153 10.0%
Power line down 143 9.4%
Authorized controlled burning 139 9.1%
All other categories 668 43.8%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Pickens County?

Mar peaks. Oct dips.

Jan 150
Feb 147
Mar 335
Apr 122
May 91
Jun 110
Jul 110
Aug 85
Sep 82
Oct 81
Nov 111
Dec 102
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Pickens County

7,316 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 1,312
2022 1,370
2023 1,359
2024 1,749
2025 1,526
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 221 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
46%
207
Cause undetermined
20%
92
Intentional / arson
18%
80
Equipment / heat source failure
5%
23
Under investigation
7%
33
Act of nature (lightning)
4%
15
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $2.0M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Pickens County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 68% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $650,000 CLEMSON Building fires Major
2 $400,000 easley Building fires Major
3 $200,000 EASLEY Building fires Significant
4 $161,000 EASLEY Building fires Significant
5 $150,000 EASLEY Building fires Significant
6 $120,000 EASLEY Building fires Significant
7 $100,000 LibertyCCD Road freight or transport vehicle fire Significant
8 $85,000 LibertyCCD Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence Significant
9 $85,000 EASLEY Building fires Significant
10 $80,000 EASLEY Building fires Significant
06 How Pickens County compares

Pickens County vs SC vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

23.98
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Pickens County
23.98
SC avg
18.56
US avg
7.15
3.47
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Pickens County
3.47
SC avg
2.67
US avg
0.82
47.1
Civilian fire deaths per million
Pickens County
47.1
SC avg
23.4
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Pickens County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 45077.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Pickens County

9 departments report from this county.

Pickens RFD
—
FDID 39310 234 incidents
EASLEY FIRE DEPT
Easley
FDID 39304 210 incidents 25 paid 20 vol
LIBERTY
—
FDID 39305 155 incidents 6 paid
CLEMSON UNIVERSITY FIRE EMS
Clemson
FDID 39302 109 incidents 42 paid
PICKENS CITY FIRE DEPT
Pickens
FDID 39307 85 incidents 3 paid
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.