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2025 Annual Fire Report

Fires in Castle Hayne, North Carolina

In 2025, fire departments serving Castle Hayne responded to 12 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $25K building blaze. Here's the full picture.

Updated Sep 27, 2026 Grade C Peak yr 2021 New Hanover County 970 residents 1 reporting departments 121 5-yr

Incomplete 2025 data. Castle Hayne's departments reported 12 incidents to NFIRS for 2025, against about 24 in a typical year, so 2025 figures on this page undercount. The 2021–2025 totals are the better guide.

Total incidents
12
Not comparable with 2024 (incomplete reporting)
Building fires
7
Residential 57% Other 43%
Property loss
$28K
$25K structure · $3K contents
Deaths & injuries
0 / 0
0 civilian deaths · 0 civ injuries · 0 firefighter injuries
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 100% of all calls.

12
Total Incidents
Building fires 7 58.3%
Forest, woods or wildland fire 2 16.7%
Passenger vehicle fire 1 8.3%
Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other 1 8.3%
Power line down 1 8.3%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen?

Mar peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.

Jan 1
Feb 1
Mar 4
Apr 1
May 1
Jun 0
Jul 4
Aug 0
Sep 0
Oct 0
Nov 0
Dec 0
Fewer
More
2b Five-year trend

Year over year in Castle Hayne

121 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $197K cumulative property loss.

YearIncidentsYoY 
2021 58 —
2022 19 -67.2%
2023 20 +5.3%
2024* 12 —
2025* 12 —

* Well below Castle Hayne'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.

03 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 7 building fires Castle Hayne departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.

Unintentional
50%
1
Cause undetermined
0%
0
Intentional / arson
0%
0
Equipment / heat source failure
0%
0
Under investigation
50%
1
Act of nature (lightning)
0%
0
3b Where fires start

Where do fires start in Castle Hayne?

NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 7 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 originCountShare 
1 Function area, other 1 14.3%
2 Storage area, other 1 14.3%
3 Heating room or area, water heater area 1 14.3%
4 Outside area, other 1 14.3%
5 Highway, parking lot, street: on or near 1 14.3%
6 Wildland, woods 1 14.3%
7 Undetermined 1 14.3%
3c What ignited it

What actually ignited the fire?

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 Castle Hayne mix.

#Heat sourceCountShare 
1 Undetermined 6 85.7%
2 Arcing 1 14.3%
04 The biggest fires

1 fires · $25K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses reported by Castle Hayne departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.

# Property loss Type Severity Status
1 $25,000 Building fires Significant Investigated
05 How Castle Hayne compares

Castle Hayne vs North Carolina vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Castle Hayne sits above the national average for incidents per resident.

12.37
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Castle Hayne
12.37
NC avg
9.36
US avg
7.48
7.22
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Castle Hayne
7.22
NC avg
1.35
US avg
0.85
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Castle Hayne
0
NC avg
8.6
US avg
5.9
5c Wildfires nearby

Wildfires within 50 mi of Castle Hayne

Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 55,480 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.

50 mi radius
YearCauseAcresDistance 
2011 Natural 31,140 18.7 mi
2020 Debris and open burning 2,727 14.9 mi
2008 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 2,084 23.5 mi
2016 Debris and open burning 1,577 29.7 mi
2014 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 1,533 21.5 mi
1994 Natural 1,300 25.6 mi
1993 Natural 1,216 16.2 mi
2008 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 1,154 3.7 mi
2017 Debris and open burning 1,126 16.2 mi
2007 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 1,100 8.3 mi
1993 Debris and open burning 970 30.6 mi
2011 Missing data/not specified/undetermined 944 28.2 mi
5d Top ZIPs

Where in Castle Hayne do fires concentrate?

Top 3 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.

#ZIP5-yr incidents 
1 28429 116
2 28411 3
3 28405 2
5e Peer cities

Cities similar to Castle Hayne

Six North Carolina cities with population within ±25% of Castle Hayne. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.

06 First responders

Who responds in Castle Hayne?

1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Castle Hayne.

CASTLE HAYNE FIRE RESCUE
5311 CASTLE HAYNE RD
FDID 06502140 paid
07 Stay prepared

Before the next Red Flag day.

A 30-minute weekend can cut your home's exposure substantially. These four checklists are a good starting point.

About this data

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.