In 2025, fire departments serving Hertford responded to 19 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $25K 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 69% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
86 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $283K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 24 | — | |
| 2022 | 17 | -29.2% | |
| 2023 | 19 | +11.8% | |
| 2024* | 7 | — | |
| 2025 | 19 | — |
* Well below Hertford'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 Hertford departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 18 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 | Vehicle area, other | 3 | 16.7% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 3 | 16.7% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 11.1% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 2 | 11.1% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 2 | 11.1% | |
| 6 | Function area, other | 1 | 5.6% | |
| 7 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 5.6% | |
| 8 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 1 | 5.6% | |
| 9 | Wall surface: exterior | 1 | 5.6% | |
| 10 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 1 | 5.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 1 | 5.6% |
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 Hertford mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 5 | 27.8% | |
| 2 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 3 | 16.7% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 11.1% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 1 | 5.6% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 5.6% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 5.6% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 5.6% | |
| 8 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 5.6% | |
| 9 | Match | 1 | 5.6% | |
| 10 | Cigarette lighter | 1 | 5.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 1 | 5.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Hertford departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Hertford sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 83,329 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Natural | 41,060 | 33.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Equipment and vehicle use | 15,449 | 49.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 6,574 | 27.5 mi | |
| 2008 | Equipment and vehicle use | 4,884 | 25.6 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,100 | 24.5 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,913 | 39.2 mi | |
| 2000 | Firearms and explosives use | 1,552 | 48.6 mi | |
| 1992 | Natural | 1,200 | 41.0 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 900 | 46.9 mi | |
| 2007 | Debris and open burning | 886 | 47.1 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 760 | 27.9 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 700 | 6.6 mi |
Top 2 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 Hertford. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Hertford.
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.