In 2025, fire departments serving Benson responded to 185 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 60% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,288 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $769K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 279 | — | |
| 2022 | 343 | +22.9% | |
| 2023 | 235 | -31.5% | |
| 2024 | 246 | +4.7% | |
| 2025 | 185 | -24.8% |
For the 48 building fires Benson departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 489 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 | 114 | 23.3% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 76 | 15.5% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 65 | 13.3% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 60 | 12.3% | |
| 5 | Other | 27 | 5.5% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 27 | 5.5% | |
| 7 | Wildland, woods | 25 | 5.1% | |
| 8 | Cooking area, kitchen | 18 | 3.7% | |
| 9 | Vehicle area, other | 9 | 1.8% | |
| 10 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 9 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 59 | 12.1% |
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 Benson mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 208 | 42.5% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 118 | 24.1% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 34 | 7.0% | |
| 4 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 18 | 3.7% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 16 | 3.3% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 13 | 2.7% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 13 | 2.7% | |
| 8 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 12 | 2.5% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 11 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Cigarette lighter | 7 | 1.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 39 | 8.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Benson departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 93% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $70,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $32,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $14,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $10,000 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $4,500 | Camper or recreational vehicle (RV) fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Benson sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 13,892 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Natural | 5,438 | 38.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,164 | 38.0 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 750 | 27.4 mi | |
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 550 | 22.1 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 500 | 34.9 mi | |
| 1993 | Arson/incendiarism | 400 | 39.9 mi | |
| 2000 | Smoking | 400 | 24.7 mi | |
| 2018 | Recreation and ceremony | 339 | 28.9 mi | |
| 2002 | Debris and open burning | 335 | 48.0 mi | |
| 1993 | Arson/incendiarism | 325 | 44.0 mi | |
| 2002 | Debris and open burning | 310 | 47.3 mi | |
| 2009 | Arson/incendiarism | 300 | 28.0 mi |
Top 8 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 Benson. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
5 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Benson.
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.