In 2025, fire departments serving Ellerbe responded to 13 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Incomplete 2025 data. Ellerbe's departments reported 13 incidents to NFIRS for 2025, against about 35 in a typical year, so 2025 figures on this page undercount. The 2021–2025 totals are the better guide.
Natural vegetation fire, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 69% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Apr dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
174 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $305K cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 34 | — | |
| 2022 | 49 | +44.1% | |
| 2023 | 45 | -8.2% | |
| 2024 | 33 | -26.7% | |
| 2025* | 13 | — |
* Well below Ellerbe'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 0 building fires Ellerbe departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 91 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 | 35 | 38.5% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 23 | 25.3% | |
| 3 | Vehicle area, other | 10 | 11.0% | |
| 4 | Structural area, other | 6 | 6.6% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 5 | 5.5% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 3.3% | |
| 7 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 2 | 2.2% | |
| 8 | Wildland, woods | 2 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Switchgear area, transformer vault | 1 | 1.1% | |
| 10 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 1 | 1.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 3 | 3.3% |
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 Ellerbe mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 79 | 86.8% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 4 | 4.4% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 3.3% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 2.2% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 1.1% | |
| 6 | Fireworks | 1 | 1.1% | |
| 7 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 1 | 1.1% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Ellerbe sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 14,732 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,358 | 15.9 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,181 | 17.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Equipment and vehicle use | 969 | 14.1 mi | |
| 1997 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 800 | 36.2 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 750 | 45.0 mi | |
| 1993 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 730 | 48.9 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 697 | 16.7 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 669 | 14.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 586 | 14.0 mi | |
| 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 547 | 15.8 mi | |
| 1995 | Equipment and vehicle use | 500 | 44.0 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 500 | 37.1 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 Ellerbe. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Ellerbe.
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.