In 2025, fire departments serving Ayden responded to 76 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 72% of all calls.
Feb peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
451 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $2.0M cumulative property loss. 5 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 80 | — | |
| 2022 | 107 | +33.8% | |
| 2023 | 83 | -22.4% | |
| 2024 | 105 | +26.5% | |
| 2025 | 76 | -27.6% |
For the 29 building fires Ayden departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 158 building fires investigators classified across 2021–2025. The room or location where ignition occurred — kitchens, bedrooms, exterior, vehicle areas — tells you where to focus prevention.
| # | Area of origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Outside area, other | 33 | 20.9% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 23 | 14.6% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 22 | 13.9% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 19 | 12.0% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 18 | 11.4% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 7 | 4.4% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 5 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Wildland, woods | 5 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Other | 4 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 3 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 19 | 12.0% |
NFIRS Heat Source (HEAT_SOURC) — the physical thing that started it. Spark or ember from operating equipment, an open flame, smoking materials, or hot embers from a fireplace are the leading culprits nationwide. Here's the Ayden mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 64 | 40.5% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 18 | 11.4% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 15 | 9.5% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 11 | 7.0% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 11 | 7.0% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 7 | 4.4% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 6 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 4 | 2.5% | |
| 9 | Heat, spark from friction | 4 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Cigarette lighter | 4 | 2.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 14 | 8.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Ayden departments in 2025. These 7 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $7,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $3,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $2,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $1,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $100 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Ayden sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
7 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 1 | |
| 30-39 | 1 | |
| 40-49 | 1 | |
| 50-59 | 4 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 55,495 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 24,600 | 43.9 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 21,331 | 43.4 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,400 | 47.8 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 650 | 49.3 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 500 | 49.1 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 363 | 46.4 mi | |
| 2009 | Arson/incendiarism | 330 | 44.7 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 26.5 mi | |
| 2000 | Equipment and vehicle use | 300 | 36.7 mi | |
| 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | 300 | 49.3 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 49.5 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 300 | 49.0 mi |
Top 3 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six North Carolina cities with population within ±25% of Ayden. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Ayden.
A 30-minute weekend can cut your home's exposure substantially. These four checklists are a good starting point.
Numbers reflect incidents reported by participating fire departments to the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) Public Data Release for calendar year 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. Per-capita comparisons use 2023 ACS population estimates. Wildland fire data complements NFIRS with NIFC and USFS perimeters. Active-fire counts come from a dated NIFC snapshot, not a live feed.