In 2025, fire departments serving Hendersonville responded to 603 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $300K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Hazardous condition, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 57% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
4,295 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $6.2M cumulative property loss. 3 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 924 | — | |
| 2022 | 874 | -5.4% | |
| 2023 | 997 | +14.1% | |
| 2024 | 897 | -10.0% | |
| 2025 | 603 | -32.8% |
For the 78 building fires Hendersonville departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 671 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 | 118 | 17.6% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 84 | 12.5% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 59 | 8.8% | |
| 4 | Wildland, woods | 56 | 8.3% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 55 | 8.2% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 36 | 5.4% | |
| 7 | Other | 21 | 3.1% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 18 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 17 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 16 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 191 | 28.5% |
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 Hendersonville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 275 | 41.0% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 58 | 8.6% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 44 | 6.6% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 44 | 6.6% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 37 | 5.5% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 32 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Cigarette lighter | 22 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 20 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 17 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 16 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 106 | 15.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Hendersonville departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $300,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $35,000 | Building or structure weakened or collapsed | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $5,000 | Fire in portable building, fixed location | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $2,500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $1,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Hendersonville sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
12 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 | 2 | |
| 50-59 | 2 | |
| 60-69 | 1 | |
| 70-79 | 1 | |
| 80+ | 1 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 62,713 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 10,623 | 25.8 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 7,913 | 16.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 5,964 | 43.8 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 5,500 | 46.0 mi | |
| 2007 | Natural | 5,015 | 47.8 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,163 | 33.0 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,943 | 46.5 mi | |
| 2007 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 2,404 | 45.5 mi | |
| 2009 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 2,307 | 48.3 mi | |
| 2001 | Debris and open burning | 2,235 | 24.1 mi | |
| 2008 | Other causes | 2,005 | 48.0 mi | |
| 2017 | Debris and open burning | 1,760 | 41.9 mi |
Top 10 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 Hendersonville. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Hendersonville.
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.