In 2025, fire departments serving Bryson City responded to 112 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $270K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Unauthorized burning lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 64% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
536 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $3.0M cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 110 | — | |
| 2022 | 102 | -7.3% | |
| 2023 | 103 | +1.0% | |
| 2024 | 109 | +5.8% | |
| 2025 | 112 | +2.8% |
For the 15 building fires Bryson City departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 194 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 | Undetermined | 31 | 16.0% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 18 | 9.3% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 15 | 7.7% | |
| 4 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 13 | 6.7% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 11 | 5.7% | |
| 6 | Wildland, woods | 10 | 5.2% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 8 | 4.1% | |
| 8 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 8 | 4.1% | |
| 9 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 7 | 3.6% | |
| 10 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 6 | 3.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 67 | 34.5% |
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 Bryson City mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 68 | 35.1% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 35 | 18.0% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 18 | 9.3% | |
| 4 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 12 | 6.2% | |
| 5 | Cigarette lighter | 11 | 5.7% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 10 | 5.2% | |
| 7 | Radiated heat from another fire | 10 | 5.2% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 7 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 6 | 3.1% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 3 | 1.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 14 | 7.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Bryson City departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 93% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $270,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $140,240 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $40,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $25,000 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $20,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $17,830 | Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Bryson City sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
11 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 | 0 | |
| 40-49 | 2 | |
| 50-59 | 2 | |
| 60-69 | 1 | |
| 70-79 | 1 | |
| 80+ | 3 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 127,488 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 24,725 | 34.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 17,140 | 14.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 10,641 | 12.3 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 10,623 | 48.1 mi | |
| 2016 | Natural | 9,036 | 27.4 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 7,788 | 26.0 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 7,580 | 5.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 5,964 | 48.1 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,422 | 19.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,231 | 14.4 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,200 | 33.9 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,943 | 47.7 mi |
Top 4 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 Bryson City. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Bryson City.
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.