In 2025, fire departments serving Germanton responded to 31 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $5K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 71% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
175 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $48K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 12 | — | |
| 2022 | 56 | — | |
| 2023 | 30 | -46.4% | |
| 2024 | 46 | +53.3% | |
| 2025 | 31 | -32.6% |
* Well below Germanton'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 4 building fires Germanton departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 28 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 | Wildland, woods | 6 | 21.4% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 5 | 17.9% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 3 | 10.7% | |
| 4 | Other | 2 | 7.1% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 7.1% | |
| 6 | Outside area, other | 2 | 7.1% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Structural area, other | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 10 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 4 | 14.3% |
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 Germanton mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 9 | 32.1% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 5 | 17.9% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 7.1% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 2 | 7.1% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 7.1% | |
| 6 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 7.1% | |
| 7 | Cigarette lighter | 2 | 7.1% | |
| 8 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Fireworks | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 10 | Cigarette | 1 | 3.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 1 | 3.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Germanton departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $1,500 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Germanton sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 9,630 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 | 32.0 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 737 | 40.5 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 730 | 41.6 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 675 | 14.9 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 484 | 39.0 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 363 | 9.7 mi | |
| 2005 | Natural | 350 | 48.8 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 260 | 47.5 mi | |
| 2007 | Natural | 230 | 48.3 mi | |
| 1996 | Equipment and vehicle use | 214 | 41.6 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 210 | 42.5 mi | |
| 2007 | Recreation and ceremony | 175 | 25.5 mi |
Top 5 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 Germanton. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
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.