In 2025, fire departments serving Hampstead responded to 155 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $30K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Authorized controlled burning lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 54% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
788 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $533K cumulative property loss. 3 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 157 | — | |
| 2022 | 158 | +0.6% | |
| 2023 | 191 | +20.9% | |
| 2024 | 127 | -33.5% | |
| 2025 | 155 | +22.0% |
For the 11 building fires Hampstead departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 283 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 | 63 | 22.3% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 43 | 15.2% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 41 | 14.5% | |
| 4 | Wildland, woods | 28 | 9.9% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 22 | 7.8% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 16 | 5.7% | |
| 7 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 8 | 2.8% | |
| 8 | Wall surface: exterior | 7 | 2.5% | |
| 9 | Other | 5 | 1.8% | |
| 10 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 4 | 1.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 46 | 16.3% |
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 Hampstead mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 142 | 50.2% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 25 | 8.8% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 11 | 3.9% | |
| 4 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 11 | 3.9% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 10 | 3.5% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 10 | 3.5% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 9 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 9 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 8 | 2.8% | |
| 10 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 8 | 2.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 40 | 14.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Hampstead departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 98% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $30,000 | Outside rubbish fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $10,000 | Grass fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $9,000 | Special outside fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $9,000 | Special outside fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $7,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $5,000 | Water vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Hampstead sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
5 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 | 1 | |
| 40-49 | 1 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 1 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 59,042 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Natural | 31,140 | 13.0 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,400 | 49.2 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 2,727 | 7.2 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,084 | 31.1 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 1,577 | 36.4 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,533 | 16.0 mi | |
| 1994 | Natural | 1,300 | 26.7 mi | |
| 1993 | Natural | 1,216 | 12.1 mi | |
| 2013 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,157 | 47.4 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,154 | 7.0 mi | |
| 2017 | Debris and open burning | 1,126 | 12.2 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,100 | 3.2 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 28443 | 788 |
Six North Carolina cities with population within ±25% of Hampstead. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Hampstead.
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.