In 2025, fire departments serving Carrboro responded to 14 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $50K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Incomplete 2025 data. Carrboro's departments reported 14 incidents to NFIRS for 2025, against about 52 in a typical year, so 2025 figures on this page undercount. The 2021–2025 totals are the better guide.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 86% of all calls.
Apr peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
261 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $463K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 55 | — | |
| 2022 | 74 | +34.5% | |
| 2023 | 103 | +39.2% | |
| 2024* | 15 | — | |
| 2025* | 14 | — |
* Well below Carrboro'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 5 building fires Carrboro departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 31 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 | 19.4% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 6 | 19.4% | |
| 3 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 6.5% | |
| 4 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 2 | 6.5% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 2 | 6.5% | |
| 6 | Wildland, woods | 2 | 6.5% | |
| 7 | Other | 1 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Duct: hvac, cable, exhaust, heating, or AC | 1 | 3.2% | |
| 10 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 1 | 3.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 7 | 22.6% |
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 Carrboro mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 18 | 58.1% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 12.9% | |
| 3 | Cigarette lighter | 2 | 6.5% | |
| 4 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 2 | 6.5% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 1 | 3.2% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 3.2% | |
| 7 | Arcing | 1 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 1 | 3.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Carrboro departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $50,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $200 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Carrboro sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 8,543 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,778 | 39.2 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 750 | 49.4 mi | |
| 1995 | Equipment and vehicle use | 500 | 27.9 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 500 | 47.9 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 456 | 39.8 mi | |
| 2018 | Recreation and ceremony | 339 | 23.0 mi | |
| 1996 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 330 | 41.4 mi | |
| 2009 | Arson/incendiarism | 300 | 23.5 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 289 | 10.4 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 274 | 42.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 267 | 41.9 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 257 | 41.8 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 Carrboro. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Carrboro.
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.