In 2025, fire departments serving Havelock responded to 73 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $50K 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 49% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
334 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $547K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 54 | — | |
| 2022 | 54 | +0.0% | |
| 2023 | 66 | +22.2% | |
| 2024 | 87 | +31.8% | |
| 2025 | 73 | -16.1% |
For the 18 building fires Havelock departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 150 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 | 28 | 18.7% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 19 | 12.7% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 17 | 11.3% | |
| 4 | Other | 16 | 10.7% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 10 | 6.7% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 10 | 6.7% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 6 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 5 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 5 | 3.3% | |
| 10 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 3 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 31 | 20.7% |
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 Havelock mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 36 | 24.0% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 23 | 15.3% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 23 | 15.3% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 12 | 8.0% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 12 | 8.0% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 10 | 6.7% | |
| 7 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 7 | 4.7% | |
| 8 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 7 | 4.7% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 5 | 3.3% | |
| 10 | Cigarette lighter | 4 | 2.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 11 | 7.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Havelock departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 97% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $40,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $20,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $2,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $1,800 | Outside storage fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $1,200 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Havelock sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 78,253 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 24,600 | 12.5 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 21,331 | 6.9 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,265 | 23.7 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,400 | 11.7 mi | |
| 2009 | Natural | 2,660 | 11.3 mi | |
| 1999 | Natural | 2,000 | 34.0 mi | |
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,000 | 42.9 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,533 | 48.2 mi | |
| 2002 | Debris and open burning | 1,500 | 46.6 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,500 | 28.1 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,360 | 30.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,327 | 11.1 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 | 28532 | 334 |
Six North Carolina cities with population within ±25% of Havelock. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Havelock.
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.