In 2025, fire departments serving Elm City responded to 67 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $10K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Incomplete 2025 data. Elm City's departments reported 67 incidents to NFIRS for 2025, against about 117 in a typical year, so 2025 figures on this page undercount. The 2021–2025 totals are the better guide.
Vehicle accident, general cleanup lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 70% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
583 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $1.3M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 103 | — | |
| 2022 | 150 | +45.6% | |
| 2023 | 147 | -2.0% | |
| 2024 | 116 | -21.1% | |
| 2025* | 67 | — |
* Well below Elm City'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 8 building fires Elm City departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 117 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 | 29 | 24.8% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 15 | 12.8% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 10 | 8.5% | |
| 4 | Wildland, woods | 10 | 8.5% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 9 | 7.7% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 8 | 6.8% | |
| 7 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 3 | 2.6% | |
| 8 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 3 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Vehicle area, other | 3 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 3 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 24 | 20.5% |
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 Elm City mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 82 | 70.1% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 6 | 5.1% | |
| 3 | Cigarette lighter | 5 | 4.3% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 3.4% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 2.6% | |
| 6 | Match | 3 | 2.6% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 1.7% | |
| 8 | Arcing | 2 | 1.7% | |
| 9 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 1.7% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 1.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 6 | 5.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Elm City departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $2,500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $1,500 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $100 | Trash or rubbish fire, contained | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Elm City sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 11,739 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,030 | 40.3 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,012 | 29.3 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,778 | 41.1 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,521 | 37.6 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 22.0 mi | |
| 2000 | Equipment and vehicle use | 300 | 40.3 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 274 | 37.1 mi | |
| 2010 | Smoking | 274 | 26.5 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 257 | 37.8 mi | |
| 2001 | Debris and open burning | 254 | 39.6 mi | |
| 2009 | Debris and open burning | 251 | 36.8 mi | |
| 1995 | Natural | 240 | 37.9 mi |
Top 6 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 Elm City. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
3 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Elm 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.