In 2025, fire departments serving Bermuda Run responded to 23 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $5K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Passenger vehicle fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 56% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
122 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $87K cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 14 | — | |
| 2022 | 34 | — | |
| 2023 | 27 | -20.6% | |
| 2024 | 24 | -11.1% | |
| 2025 | 23 | -4.2% |
* Well below Bermuda Run's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.
For the 1 building fires Bermuda Run departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 29 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 6 | 20.7% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 5 | 17.2% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 5 | 17.2% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 4 | 13.8% | |
| 5 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 4 | 13.8% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 7 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 10 | Fuel tank, fuel line | 1 | 3.4% |
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 Bermuda Run mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 7 | 24.1% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 6 | 20.7% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 6.9% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 6.9% | |
| 5 | Cigarette | 2 | 6.9% | |
| 6 | Chemical reaction | 2 | 6.9% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Arcing | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 10 | Fireworks | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 4 | 13.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Bermuda Run departments in 2025. These 7 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $1,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $1,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $100 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $1 | Grass fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $1 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Bermuda Run sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 6,260 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 737 | 44.8 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 730 | 45.4 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 675 | 23.4 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 484 | 40.1 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 363 | 25.4 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 310 | 47.5 mi | |
| 1994 | Natural | 262 | 48.5 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 260 | 44.7 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 250 | 47.9 mi | |
| 1996 | Equipment and vehicle use | 214 | 29.8 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 210 | 45.8 mi | |
| 2007 | Recreation and ceremony | 175 | 43.0 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 27006 | 122 |
Six North Carolina cities with population within ±25% of Bermuda Run. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
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.