In 2025, fire departments serving Denton responded to 15 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $28K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Forest, woods or wildland fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 67% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
66 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $31K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 22 | — | |
| 2022 | 10 | -54.5% | |
| 2023 | 16 | +60.0% | |
| 2024* | 3 | — | |
| 2025 | 15 | — |
* Well below Denton'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 2 building fires Denton departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 13 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 | 3 | 23.1% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 3 | 23.1% | |
| 3 | Wildland, woods | 3 | 23.1% | |
| 4 | Other | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 5 | Processing/manufacturing area, workroom | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 6 | Vehicle area, other | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 7 | Undetermined | 1 | 7.7% |
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 Denton mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 8 | 61.5% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 7.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Denton departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $28,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $1 | Trash or rubbish fire, contained | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Denton sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,957 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Equipment and vehicle use | 500 | 36.3 mi | |
| 1996 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 330 | 37.8 mi | |
| 1993 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 250 | 43.7 mi | |
| 1996 | Equipment and vehicle use | 214 | 2.1 mi | |
| 1993 | Natural | 200 | 33.4 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 180 | 39.0 mi | |
| 2012 | Equipment and vehicle use | 175 | 48.1 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 161 | 26.4 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 150 | 27.0 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 150 | 8.7 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 143 | 49.7 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 131 | 47.3 mi |
Top 2 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 Denton. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Denton.
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.