In 2025, fire departments serving Cherokee responded to 134 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $250K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Aircraft standby lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 73% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jul dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
993 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $1.6M cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 207 | — | |
| 2022 | 235 | +13.5% | |
| 2023 | 206 | -12.3% | |
| 2024 | 211 | +2.4% | |
| 2025 | 134 | -36.5% |
For the 19 building fires Cherokee departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 225 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 | Wildland, woods | 34 | 15.1% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 31 | 13.8% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 26 | 11.6% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 21 | 9.3% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 13 | 5.8% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 11 | 4.9% | |
| 7 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 9 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Wall surface: exterior | 6 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 5 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 5 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 64 | 28.4% |
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 Cherokee mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 92 | 40.9% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 31 | 13.8% | |
| 3 | Cigarette lighter | 19 | 8.4% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 13 | 5.8% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 12 | 5.3% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 8 | 3.6% | |
| 7 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 7 | 3.1% | |
| 8 | Heat source: other | 5 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 5 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Fireworks | 4 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 29 | 12.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Cherokee departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 99% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $70,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $25,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $2,500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $2,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $1,800 | Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $1,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Cherokee sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 127,517 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 24,725 | 40.1 mi | |
| 2016 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 17,140 | 14.1 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 10,641 | 20.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 10,623 | 44.3 mi | |
| 2016 | Natural | 9,036 | 35.1 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 7,788 | 34.7 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 7,580 | 8.9 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 5,964 | 39.3 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,422 | 26.1 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,231 | 23.5 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,200 | 40.9 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,943 | 39.1 mi |
Top 5 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 Cherokee. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Cherokee.
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.