In 2025, fire departments serving Fayetteville responded to 69 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $1.0M 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 56% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jul dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
399 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $1.2M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 66 | — | |
| 2022 | 90 | +36.4% | |
| 2023 | 111 | +23.3% | |
| 2024 | 63 | -43.2% | |
| 2025 | 69 | +9.5% |
For the 13 building fires Fayetteville departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 24 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 | Other | 4 | 16.7% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 12.5% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 8.3% | |
| 4 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 2 | 8.3% | |
| 5 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 8 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 9 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 10 | Conduit, pipe, utility, or ventilation shaft | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 7 | 29.2% |
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 Fayetteville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 7 | 29.2% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 4 | 16.7% | |
| 3 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 3 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 8.3% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 8.3% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 2 | 8.3% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 8.3% | |
| 8 | Cigarette | 2 | 8.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Fayetteville departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,000,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Fayetteville sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,293 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 694 | 39.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Equipment and vehicle use | 100 | 3.6 mi | |
| 2007 | Natural | 65 | 26.5 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 49 | 36.6 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 31 | 42.6 mi | |
| 2008 | Smoking | 30 | 27.1 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 29 | 4.4 mi | |
| 2009 | Debris and open burning | 25 | 36.9 mi | |
| 1993 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 25 | 35.1 mi | |
| 1998 | Debris and open burning | 25 | 36.5 mi | |
| 2013 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 24 | 10.9 mi | |
| 1992 | Equipment and vehicle use | 22 | 44.4 mi |
Top 2 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six New York cities with population within ±25% of Fayetteville. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Fayetteville.
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.