In 2025, fire departments serving Catawba responded to 81 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $200K 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 58% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
437 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $1.2M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 92 | — | |
| 2022 | 80 | -13.0% | |
| 2023 | 104 | +30.0% | |
| 2024 | 80 | -23.1% | |
| 2025 | 81 | +1.2% |
For the 11 building fires Catawba departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 141 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 | 49 | 34.8% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 37 | 26.2% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 16 | 11.3% | |
| 4 | Wildland, woods | 9 | 6.4% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 6 | 4.3% | |
| 6 | Other | 4 | 2.8% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 4 | 2.8% | |
| 8 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 1.4% | |
| 9 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 2 | 1.4% | |
| 10 | Wall assembly | 2 | 1.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 10 | 7.1% |
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 Catawba mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 83 | 58.9% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 9 | 6.4% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 6 | 4.3% | |
| 4 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 6 | 4.3% | |
| 5 | Cigarette lighter | 5 | 3.5% | |
| 6 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 5 | 3.5% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 4 | 2.8% | |
| 8 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 4 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 1.4% | |
| 10 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 1.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 15 | 10.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Catawba departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $199,800 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $100,400 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $60,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $19,800 | Outside storage fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Catawba sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 41,668 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Recreation and ceremony | 10,120 | 49.5 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,431 | 32.5 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 5,500 | 47.3 mi | |
| 2007 | Natural | 5,015 | 47.0 mi | |
| 2013 | Recreation and ceremony | 2,579 | 47.5 mi | |
| 2007 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 2,404 | 48.7 mi | |
| 2008 | Other causes | 2,005 | 49.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,450 | 41.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 800 | 39.6 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 562 | 37.7 mi | |
| 2014 | Natural | 550 | 40.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 535 | 38.9 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 Catawba. 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.