In 2025, fire departments serving Charlotte responded to 28 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $500K 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 61% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
112 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $500K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 9 | — | |
| 2022 | 32 | — | |
| 2023 | 24 | -25.0% | |
| 2024 | 19 | -20.8% | |
| 2025 | 28 | +47.4% |
* 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 5 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 28 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 | 4 | 14.3% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 4 | 14.3% | |
| 3 | Exterior, exposed surface | 3 | 10.7% | |
| 4 | Wildland, woods | 3 | 10.7% | |
| 5 | Wall surface: exterior | 2 | 7.1% | |
| 6 | Outside area, other | 2 | 7.1% | |
| 7 | Undetermined | 2 | 7.1% | |
| 8 | Other | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Function area, other | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 10 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 5 | 17.9% |
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 | 8 | 28.6% | |
| 2 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 14.3% | |
| 3 | Heat, spark from friction | 3 | 10.7% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 7.1% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 2 | 7.1% | |
| 6 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 7.1% | |
| 7 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 2 | 7.1% | |
| 8 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 10 | Backfire from internal combustion engine | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 2 | 7.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Charlotte departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $500,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Charlotte sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,401 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Recreation and ceremony | 547 | 43.8 mi | |
| 2001 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 330 | 30.4 mi | |
| 2015 | Recreation and ceremony | 121 | 37.3 mi | |
| 1994 | Recreation and ceremony | 117 | 41.2 mi | |
| 1994 | Smoking | 106 | 38.0 mi | |
| 1999 | Recreation and ceremony | 92 | 29.9 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 82 | 28.4 mi | |
| 2001 | Natural | 80 | 15.6 mi | |
| 2001 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 77 | 30.4 mi | |
| 1994 | Smoking | 75 | 21.0 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 65 | 28.7 mi | |
| 2015 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 60 | 46.5 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 05445 | 112 |
Six Vermont cities with population within ±25% of Charlotte. 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.