In 2025, fire departments serving Holly Springs responded to 196 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $650K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 56% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,288 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $6.1M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 254 | — | |
| 2022 | 281 | +10.6% | |
| 2023 | 287 | +2.1% | |
| 2024 | 270 | -5.9% | |
| 2025 | 196 | -27.4% |
For the 21 building fires Holly Springs departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 308 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 | 52 | 16.9% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 51 | 16.6% | |
| 3 | Wildland, woods | 25 | 8.1% | |
| 4 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 22 | 7.1% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 22 | 7.1% | |
| 6 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 21 | 6.8% | |
| 7 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 17 | 5.5% | |
| 8 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 8 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 8 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Other | 7 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 75 | 24.4% |
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 Holly Springs mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 127 | 41.2% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 27 | 8.8% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 22 | 7.1% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 20 | 6.5% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 19 | 6.2% | |
| 6 | Cigarette | 13 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 9 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 7 | 2.3% | |
| 9 | Fireworks | 7 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Cigarette lighter | 7 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 50 | 16.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Holly Springs departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 98% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $650,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $400,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $300,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Major | Investigated |
| 4 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $50,000 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $25,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $6,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Holly Springs sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 9,731 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,778 | 41.2 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 750 | 31.2 mi | |
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 550 | 38.6 mi | |
| 1995 | Equipment and vehicle use | 500 | 35.1 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 500 | 33.3 mi | |
| 1993 | Arson/incendiarism | 400 | 48.8 mi | |
| 2000 | Smoking | 400 | 31.6 mi | |
| 2018 | Recreation and ceremony | 339 | 8.6 mi | |
| 1996 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 330 | 39.9 mi | |
| 1993 | Arson/incendiarism | 325 | 47.4 mi | |
| 2002 | Debris and open burning | 310 | 49.6 mi | |
| 2009 | Arson/incendiarism | 300 | 8.0 mi |
Top 3 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 Holly Springs. 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.