In 2025, fire departments serving Elkin responded to 128 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Grass fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 49% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
719 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $510K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 138 | — | |
| 2022 | 141 | +2.2% | |
| 2023 | 172 | +22.0% | |
| 2024 | 140 | -18.6% | |
| 2025 | 128 | -8.6% |
For the 13 building fires Elkin departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 198 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 | 45 | 22.7% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 34 | 17.2% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 30 | 15.2% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 15 | 7.6% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 11 | 5.6% | |
| 6 | Vehicle area, other | 7 | 3.5% | |
| 7 | Wildland, woods | 7 | 3.5% | |
| 8 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 6 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Storage area, other | 4 | 2.0% | |
| 10 | Function area, other | 3 | 1.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 36 | 18.2% |
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 Elkin mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 98 | 49.5% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 11 | 5.6% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 11 | 5.6% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 10 | 5.1% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 8 | 4.0% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 7 | 3.5% | |
| 7 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 6 | 3.0% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 5 | 2.5% | |
| 9 | Cigarette | 5 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 4 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 33 | 16.7% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Elkin sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 14,259 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 | 47.6 mi | |
| 2013 | Smoking | 1,509 | 41.3 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,450 | 41.4 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 800 | 30.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 737 | 19.8 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 730 | 19.8 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 675 | 20.8 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 484 | 13.1 mi | |
| 2009 | Debris and open burning | 457 | 47.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Other causes | 430 | 37.1 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 363 | 28.5 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 310 | 18.6 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 Elkin. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Elkin.
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.