In 2025, fire departments serving Clyde responded to 110 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $75K 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 55% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
734 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $198K cumulative property loss. 3 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 143 | — | |
| 2022 | 165 | +15.4% | |
| 2023 | 180 | +9.1% | |
| 2024 | 136 | -24.4% | |
| 2025 | 110 | -19.1% |
For the 27 building fires Clyde departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 213 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 | 48 | 22.5% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 38 | 17.8% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 23 | 10.8% | |
| 4 | Wildland, woods | 23 | 10.8% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 17 | 8.0% | |
| 6 | Other | 11 | 5.2% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 7 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 4 | 1.9% | |
| 9 | Equipment or service area, other | 4 | 1.9% | |
| 10 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 4 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 34 | 16.0% |
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 Clyde mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 103 | 48.4% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 14 | 6.6% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 13 | 6.1% | |
| 4 | Cigarette lighter | 13 | 6.1% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 12 | 5.6% | |
| 6 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 11 | 5.2% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 7 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Heat, spark from friction | 7 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 7 | 3.3% | |
| 10 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 22 | 10.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Clyde departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $10,000 | Outside equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $8,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $4,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $10 | Special outside fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Clyde sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
9 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 1 | |
| 20-29 | 2 | |
| 30-39 | 1 | |
| 40-49 | 2 | |
| 50-59 | 1 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 2 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 96,372 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 17,140 | 32.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 10,641 | 40.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 10,623 | 35.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 7,913 | 40.0 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 7,580 | 30.8 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 5,964 | 25.4 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,422 | 43.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,231 | 44.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,163 | 47.0 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,943 | 26.8 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 2,436 | 27.6 mi | |
| 2009 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 2,307 | 20.6 mi |
Top 7 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 Clyde. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Clyde.
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.