In 2025, fire departments serving Elizabeth City responded to 227 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $60K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 44% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,171 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $897K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 194 | — | |
| 2022 | 141 | -27.3% | |
| 2023 | 317 | +124.8% | |
| 2024 | 292 | -7.9% | |
| 2025 | 227 | -22.3% |
For the 18 building fires Elizabeth City departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 308 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 | 107 | 34.7% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 37 | 12.0% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 33 | 10.7% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 20 | 6.5% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 17 | 5.5% | |
| 6 | Other | 11 | 3.6% | |
| 7 | Wildland, woods | 9 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 6 | 1.9% | |
| 9 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 5 | 1.6% | |
| 10 | Wall surface: exterior | 5 | 1.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 58 | 18.8% |
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 Elizabeth City mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 200 | 64.9% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 24 | 7.8% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 14 | 4.5% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 14 | 4.5% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 9 | 2.9% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 7 | 2.3% | |
| 7 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 6 | 1.9% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 5 | 1.6% | |
| 9 | Candle | 4 | 1.3% | |
| 10 | Cigarette | 3 | 1.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 22 | 7.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Elizabeth City departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $60,000 | Fire in portable building, fixed location | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $12,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $12,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $7,200 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $2,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Elizabeth City sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 85,330 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Natural | 41,060 | 41.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Equipment and vehicle use | 15,449 | 49.3 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 6,574 | 24.5 mi | |
| 2008 | Equipment and vehicle use | 4,884 | 22.5 mi | |
| 2003 | Firearms and explosives use | 2,300 | 48.8 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,100 | 16.5 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,913 | 48.4 mi | |
| 2000 | Firearms and explosives use | 1,552 | 44.1 mi | |
| 1992 | Natural | 1,200 | 48.2 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 900 | 46.1 mi | |
| 2007 | Debris and open burning | 886 | 43.9 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 760 | 28.0 mi |
Top 4 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 Elizabeth City. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
5 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Elizabeth City.
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.