In 2025, fire departments serving Clayton responded to 298 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $250K 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 56% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
2,282 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $5.4M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 462 | — | |
| 2022 | 620 | +34.2% | |
| 2023 | 475 | -23.4% | |
| 2024 | 427 | -10.1% | |
| 2025 | 298 | -30.2% |
For the 58 building fires Clayton departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 778 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 | Outside area, other | 191 | 24.6% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 151 | 19.4% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 79 | 10.2% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 66 | 8.5% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 57 | 7.3% | |
| 6 | Vehicle area, other | 28 | 3.6% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 25 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Wildland, woods | 24 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Other | 20 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 11 | 1.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 126 | 16.2% |
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 Clayton mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 396 | 50.9% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 61 | 7.8% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 53 | 6.8% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 41 | 5.3% | |
| 5 | Cigarette lighter | 30 | 3.9% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 26 | 3.3% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 25 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 23 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 20 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 14 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 89 | 11.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Clayton departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 64% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $250,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $100,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $50,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $50,000 | Grass fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Clayton sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 12,529 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,030 | 48.1 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,012 | 48.7 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,778 | 34.4 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 750 | 42.9 mi | |
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 550 | 41.4 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 500 | 48.4 mi | |
| 2000 | Smoking | 400 | 41.2 mi | |
| 2018 | Recreation and ceremony | 339 | 30.1 mi | |
| 2009 | Arson/incendiarism | 300 | 29.3 mi | |
| 2000 | Equipment and vehicle use | 300 | 38.8 mi | |
| 1993 | Arson/incendiarism | 275 | 41.0 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 274 | 33.9 mi |
Top 10 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 Clayton. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Clayton.
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.