In 2025, fire departments serving Concord responded to 442 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Hazardous condition, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 43% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
2,925 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $6.7M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 786 | — | |
| 2022 | 710 | -9.7% | |
| 2023 | 625 | -12.0% | |
| 2024 | 362 | -42.1% | |
| 2025 | 442 | +22.1% |
For the 26 building fires Concord departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 818 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 | 170 | 20.8% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 134 | 16.4% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 115 | 14.1% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 42 | 5.1% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 38 | 4.6% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 37 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 36 | 4.4% | |
| 8 | Wildland, woods | 24 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 22 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 20 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 180 | 22.0% |
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 Concord mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 341 | 41.7% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 95 | 11.6% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 87 | 10.6% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 51 | 6.2% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 35 | 4.3% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 26 | 3.2% | |
| 7 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 23 | 2.8% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 22 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Cigarette | 21 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Cigarette lighter | 19 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 98 | 12.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Concord departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 59% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $100,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $70,000 | Camper or recreational vehicle (RV) fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $60,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $25,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $25,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $25,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $20,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Concord sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
8 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 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 1 | |
| 30-39 | 2 | |
| 40-49 | 1 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 1 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,352 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Natural | 400 | 45.1 mi | |
| 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 290 | 47.4 mi | |
| 1993 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 250 | 36.6 mi | |
| 1996 | Equipment and vehicle use | 214 | 35.6 mi | |
| 1993 | Natural | 200 | 40.8 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 150 | 34.0 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 150 | 33.6 mi | |
| 1992 | Natural | 116 | 47.4 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 116 | 40.3 mi | |
| 1996 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 115 | 47.7 mi | |
| 2007 | Recreation and ceremony | 107 | 33.8 mi | |
| 1997 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 106 | 49.0 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 Concord. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
5 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Concord.
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.