In 2025, fire departments serving Dobson responded to 219 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $10K 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 51% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,103 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $34K cumulative property loss. 3 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 220 | — | |
| 2022 | 234 | +6.4% | |
| 2023 | 225 | -3.8% | |
| 2024 | 205 | -8.9% | |
| 2025 | 219 | +6.8% |
For the 31 building fires Dobson departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 266 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 | 62 | 23.3% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 56 | 21.1% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 28 | 10.5% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 27 | 10.2% | |
| 5 | Wildland, woods | 15 | 5.6% | |
| 6 | Vehicle area, other | 13 | 4.9% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 10 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Function area, other | 5 | 1.9% | |
| 9 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 4 | 1.5% | |
| 10 | Storage area, other | 4 | 1.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 42 | 15.8% |
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 Dobson mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 154 | 57.9% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 16 | 6.0% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 11 | 4.1% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 10 | 3.8% | |
| 5 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 9 | 3.4% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 7 | 2.6% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 7 | 2.6% | |
| 8 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 6 | 2.3% | |
| 9 | Radiated heat from another fire | 6 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 5 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 35 | 13.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Dobson departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $4,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Dobson sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 12,741 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Natural | 3,696 | 36.7 mi | |
| 2013 | Smoking | 1,509 | 37.4 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 800 | 39.1 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 737 | 13.4 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 730 | 14.1 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 675 | 13.9 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 484 | 10.3 mi | |
| 2009 | Debris and open burning | 457 | 38.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Other causes | 430 | 43.4 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 363 | 21.0 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 310 | 23.5 mi | |
| 1994 | Natural | 262 | 23.2 mi |
Top 8 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 Dobson. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Dobson.
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.