In 2025, fire departments serving East Flat Rock responded to 29 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $1 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 62% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
197 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $3K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 62 | — | |
| 2022 | 55 | -11.3% | |
| 2023 | 39 | -29.1% | |
| 2024* | 12 | — | |
| 2025 | 29 | — |
* Well below East Flat Rock'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 6 building fires East Flat Rock departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 41 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 | 9 | 22.0% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 8 | 19.5% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 6 | 14.6% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 7.3% | |
| 5 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 2 | 4.9% | |
| 6 | Wall surface: exterior | 2 | 4.9% | |
| 7 | Other | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 8 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Storage area, other | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Storage room, area, tank, or bin | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 7 | 17.1% |
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 East Flat Rock mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 17 | 41.5% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 5 | 12.2% | |
| 3 | Cigarette lighter | 4 | 9.8% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 3 | 7.3% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 2 | 4.9% | |
| 6 | Match | 2 | 4.9% | |
| 7 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 2 | 4.9% | |
| 8 | Multiple heat sources including multiple ignitions | 2 | 4.9% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 2 | 4.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by East Flat Rock departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1 | Outside rubbish fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. East Flat Rock sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 63,913 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 10,623 | 25.1 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 7,913 | 16.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,431 | 49.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 5,964 | 47.5 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 5,500 | 46.8 mi | |
| 2007 | Natural | 5,015 | 48.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,163 | 34.3 mi | |
| 2007 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 2,404 | 46.4 mi | |
| 2001 | Debris and open burning | 2,235 | 24.2 mi | |
| 2008 | Other causes | 2,005 | 49.2 mi | |
| 2017 | Debris and open burning | 1,760 | 43.0 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,477 | 11.9 mi |
Top 3 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 East Flat Rock. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
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.