In 2025, fire departments serving Charlotte responded to 56 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $300K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 71% of all calls.
Mar peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
192 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $1.6M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 15 | — | |
| 2022 | 27 | — | |
| 2023 | 46 | +70.4% | |
| 2024 | 48 | +4.3% | |
| 2025 | 56 | +16.7% |
* Well below Charlotte'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 13 building fires Charlotte departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 47 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 | 22 | 46.8% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 5 | 10.6% | |
| 3 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 4 | 8.5% | |
| 4 | Corridor, mall | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 5 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Storage area, other | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 9 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 10 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 2 | 4.3% |
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 Charlotte mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 32 | 68.1% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 5 | 10.6% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 4 | 8.5% | |
| 4 | Multiple heat sources including multiple ignitions | 2 | 4.3% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 1 | 2.1% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 2.1% | |
| 7 | Candle | 1 | 2.1% | |
| 8 | Lightning | 1 | 2.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Charlotte departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 96% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $300,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $106,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $50,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $35,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $30,000 | Outside rubbish fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $16,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $14,364 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Charlotte sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 5,647 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Natural | 1,024 | 47.2 mi | |
| 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 331 | 29.3 mi | |
| 2009 | Arson/incendiarism | 330 | 40.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 312 | 34.3 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 300 | 28.8 mi | |
| 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 240 | 36.8 mi | |
| 2015 | Arson/incendiarism | 235 | 45.6 mi | |
| 2007 | Arson/incendiarism | 230 | 45.6 mi | |
| 2001 | Equipment and vehicle use | 225 | 13.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 218 | 49.8 mi | |
| 2006 | Natural | 200 | 36.9 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 173 | 33.6 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 Tennessee cities with population within ±25% of Charlotte. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Charlotte.
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.