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2025 County Report

Fires in York County, SC

In 2025, fire departments serving York County responded to 2,184 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $1.5M property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as High.

163,620 residents FIPS 45091 36 cities · 5 fire depts
Total incidents
2,184
10,025 across 5 years
Building fires
331
284 wildland
Property loss
$14.0M
$10.5M structure · $3.4M 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 48% of all calls.

2,184
Total Incidents
Building fires 331 15.2%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 282 12.9%
Unauthorized burning 178 8.2%
Power line down 129 5.9%
Passenger vehicle fire 121 5.5%
All other categories 1,143 52.3%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in York County?

Mar peaks. Oct dips.

Jan 215
Feb 190
Mar 422
Apr 161
May 172
Jun 184
Jul 254
Aug 183
Sep 165
Oct 76
Nov 78
Dec 84
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in York County

10,025 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 1,901
2022 2,163
2023 1,813
2024 1,964
2025 2,184
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 331 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
43%
215
Cause undetermined
14%
73
Intentional / arson
13%
67
Equipment / heat source failure
10%
49
Under investigation
16%
83
Act of nature (lightning)
4%
12
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $4.8M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in York County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 45% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $1,500,000 Fort Mill Building fires Major
2 $450,000 ROCK HILL Building fires Major
3 $400,000 ROCK HILL Building fires Major
4 $400,000 YORK Building fires Major
5 $400,000 YORK Building fires Major
6 $400,000 ROCK HILL Building fires Major
7 $321,000 YORK Building fires Major
8 $312,000 CLOVER Building fires Major
9 $300,000 ROCK HILL Building fires Major
10 $300,000 ROCK HILL Building fires Major
06 How York County compares

York County vs SC vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

13.35
Incidents per 1,000 residents
York County
13.35
SC avg
18.56
US avg
7.15
2.02
Building fires per 1,000 residents
York County
2.02
SC avg
2.67
US avg
0.82
18.3
Civilian fire deaths per million
York County
18.3
SC avg
23.4
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in York County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 45091.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in York County

5 departments report from this county.

ROCK HILL FIRE DEPT
—
FDID 46116 532 incidents
City of York Fire Department
York
FDID 46318 172 incidents 6 paid 27 vol
FORT MILL FIRE DEPT
—
FDID 46207 160 incidents
LESSLIE VFD
—
FDID 46209 143 incidents
BETHESDA VFD
—
FDID 46203 58 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.