In 2025, fire departments serving Beaufort responded to 86 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $1 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 55% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
455 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $16K cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 110 | — | |
| 2022 | 106 | -3.6% | |
| 2023 | 84 | -20.8% | |
| 2024 | 69 | -17.9% | |
| 2025 | 86 | +24.6% |
For the 23 building fires Beaufort departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 102 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 | 25 | 24.5% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 19 | 18.6% | |
| 3 | Wildland, woods | 12 | 11.8% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 10 | 9.8% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 4 | 3.9% | |
| 6 | Wall surface: exterior | 4 | 3.9% | |
| 7 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 4 | 3.9% | |
| 8 | Other | 3 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 3 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 3 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 15 | 14.7% |
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 Beaufort mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 51 | 50.0% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 7 | 6.9% | |
| 3 | Cigarette lighter | 6 | 5.9% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 3.9% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 3.9% | |
| 6 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 4 | 3.9% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 3 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Arcing | 3 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Cigarette | 2 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 15 | 14.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Beaufort departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Beaufort sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 76,110 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 | 28.6 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 21,331 | 25.1 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,265 | 17.9 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,400 | 25.6 mi | |
| 2009 | Natural | 2,660 | 17.1 mi | |
| 1999 | Natural | 2,000 | 24.3 mi | |
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,000 | 45.4 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,500 | 23.7 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,360 | 19.8 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,327 | 19.2 mi | |
| 2013 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,157 | 21.4 mi | |
| 2002 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,001 | 20.7 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 Beaufort. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Beaufort.
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.