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2025 County Report

Fires in Russell County, AL

In 2025, fire departments serving Russell County responded to 467 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $150K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Moderate.

42,944 residents FIPS 01113 29 cities · 0 fire depts
Total incidents
467
2,047 across 5 years
Building fires
49
84 wildland
Property loss
$366K
$281K structure · $86K contents
Casualties
5 / 0
5 civ deaths · 0 civ inj · 0 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Building fires lead by count. Top five categories make up about 51% of all calls.

467
Total Incidents
Building fires 49 10.5%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 49 10.5%
Passenger vehicle fire 47 10.1%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 47 10.1%
Unauthorized burning 47 10.1%
All other categories 228 48.8%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Russell County?

Jul peaks. May dips.

Jan 44
Feb 25
Mar 48
Apr 33
May 24
Jun 39
Jul 52
Aug 37
Sep 40
Oct 32
Nov 44
Dec 49
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Russell County

2,047 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 194
2022 505
2023 449
2024 432
2025 467
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 49 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
36%
57
Cause undetermined
20%
32
Intentional / arson
15%
24
Equipment / heat source failure
8%
13
Under investigation
10%
15
Act of nature (lightning)
11%
3
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $281K in losses

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

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $150,000 Phenix City Building fires Significant
2 $60,000 Cottonton Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence Significant
3 $25,000 Phenix City Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle Significant
4 $20,000 Phenix City Fires in structures other than in a building Significant
5 $10,000 Phenix City Passenger vehicle fire Significant
6 $5,000 Phenix City Chimney or flue fire, confined to chimney or flue Significant
7 $5,000 Phenix City Passenger vehicle fire Significant
8 $5,000 Phenix City Building fires Significant
9 $500 Phenix City Cooking fire, confined to container Significant
10 $150 Phenix City Grass fire Significant
06 How Russell County compares

Russell County vs AL vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

10.87
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Russell County
10.87
AL avg
9.37
US avg
7.15
1.14
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Russell County
1.14
AL avg
1.28
US avg
0.82
116.4
Civilian fire deaths per million
Russell County
116.4
AL avg
11.3
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Russell County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 01113.

09 Historical wildfires

Largest fires recorded in AL

Top 10 fire perimeters by acres burned (state-scoped fallback while we build out per-county polygons).

#NameYearAgencyAcres
1 426 B 2019 USFS 2,671
2 Lake Chinnabee 2016 USFS 2,228
3 742 2019 USFS 1,787
4 Rd07-09 2006 NPS 1,467
5 Big Candle 2019 USFS 1,272
6 Half Way 2016 USFS 1,066
7 LRP NORTHEAST SOUTH RX 2023 NPS 1,026
8 Welcome Home 1 2016 USFS 1,008
9 Road 09-08 WF 2006 NPS 978
10 Caney Head 2016 USFS 932

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.