In 2025, fire departments serving Garner responded to 367 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $750K 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 48% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
2,120 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $4.1M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 418 | — | |
| 2022 | 435 | +4.1% | |
| 2023 | 459 | +5.5% | |
| 2024 | 441 | -3.9% | |
| 2025 | 367 | -16.8% |
For the 42 building fires Garner departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 686 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 114 | 16.6% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 103 | 15.0% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 96 | 14.0% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 62 | 9.0% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 52 | 7.6% | |
| 6 | Wildland, woods | 44 | 6.4% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 27 | 3.9% | |
| 8 | Other | 19 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Vehicle area, other | 15 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 15 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 139 | 20.3% |
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 Garner mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 347 | 50.6% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 49 | 7.1% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 43 | 6.3% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 40 | 5.8% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 36 | 5.2% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 30 | 4.4% | |
| 7 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 19 | 2.8% | |
| 8 | Heat source: other | 16 | 2.3% | |
| 9 | Cigarette lighter | 15 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 11 | 1.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 80 | 11.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Garner departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 91% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $750,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $400,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $188,796 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $131,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $75,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $25,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Garner sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
9 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 2 | |
| 30-39 | 2 | |
| 40-49 | 2 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 1 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 11,106 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 | 49.6 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,778 | 33.4 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 750 | 38.8 mi | |
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 550 | 41.3 mi | |
| 1995 | Equipment and vehicle use | 500 | 47.6 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 500 | 43.0 mi | |
| 2000 | Smoking | 400 | 38.0 mi | |
| 2018 | Recreation and ceremony | 339 | 21.3 mi | |
| 2009 | Arson/incendiarism | 300 | 20.6 mi | |
| 2000 | Equipment and vehicle use | 300 | 47.1 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 289 | 41.1 mi | |
| 1993 | Arson/incendiarism | 275 | 37.8 mi |
Top 9 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 Garner. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Garner.
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.