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2025 County Report

Fires in Tuscaloosa County, AL

In 2025, fire departments serving Tuscaloosa County responded to 991 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $500K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Moderate.

154,273 residents FIPS 01125 49 cities · 3 fire depts
Total incidents
991
4,858 across 5 years
Building fires
97
177 wildland
Property loss
$6.7M
$5.0M structure · $1.7M contents
Casualties
0 / 3
0 civ deaths · 3 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 39% of all calls.

991
Total Incidents
Building fires 97 9.8%
Passenger vehicle fire 91 9.2%
Power line down 73 7.4%
Grass fire 65 6.6%
Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other 62 6.3%
All other categories 603 60.8%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Tuscaloosa County?

Mar peaks. Jun dips.

Jan 97
Feb 87
Mar 142
Apr 70
May 76
Jun 63
Jul 66
Aug 63
Sep 97
Oct 69
Nov 76
Dec 85
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Tuscaloosa County

4,858 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 983
2022 991
2023 904
2024 989
2025 991
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 97 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
52%
237
Cause undetermined
22%
98
Intentional / arson
7%
31
Equipment / heat source failure
6%
28
Under investigation
8%
35
Act of nature (lightning)
5%
9
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $2.5M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Tuscaloosa County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 50% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $500,000 Tuscaloosa Building fires Major
2 $300,000 TUSCALOOSA Building fires Major
3 $300,000 TUSCALOOSA Building fires Major
4 $250,000 TUSCALOOSA Building fires Major
5 $225,000 TUSCALOOSA Building fires Significant
6 $220,000 Tuscaloosa Building fires Significant
7 $200,000 COTTONDALE Building fires Significant
8 $200,000 Cottondale Building fires Significant
9 $150,000 TUSCALOOSA Building fires Significant
10 $150,000 TUSCALOOSA Building fires Significant
06 How Tuscaloosa County compares

Tuscaloosa County vs AL vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

6.42
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Tuscaloosa County
6.42
AL avg
9.37
US avg
7.15
0.63
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Tuscaloosa County
0.63
AL avg
1.28
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Tuscaloosa County
0
AL avg
11.3
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Tuscaloosa County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 01125.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Tuscaloosa County

3 departments report from this county.

Romulus FPD
Buhl
FDID 06319 26 incidents 12 vol
Coaling VFD
Coaling
FDID 06316 0 incidents 29 vol
Abernant VFD
Vance
FDID 06320 0 incidents 15 vol
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.