In 2025, fire departments serving Kill Devil Hills responded to 148 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $300K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Vehicle accident, general cleanup lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 65% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
875 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $6.9M cumulative property loss. 7 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 218 | — | |
| 2022 | 193 | -11.5% | |
| 2023 | 153 | -20.7% | |
| 2024 | 163 | +6.5% | |
| 2025 | 148 | -9.2% |
For the 15 building fires Kill Devil Hills departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 116 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 | Undetermined | 17 | 14.7% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 13 | 11.2% | |
| 3 | Structural area, other | 12 | 10.3% | |
| 4 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 11 | 9.5% | |
| 5 | Other | 10 | 8.6% | |
| 6 | Wall surface: exterior | 8 | 6.9% | |
| 7 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 4 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 4 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 3.4% | |
| 10 | Exterior, exposed surface | 4 | 3.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 29 | 25.0% |
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 Kill Devil Hills mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 44 | 37.9% | |
| 2 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 16 | 13.8% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 8 | 6.9% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 6 | 5.2% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 5 | 4.3% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 5 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Cigarette | 5 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 5 | 4.3% | |
| 9 | Radiated heat from another fire | 5 | 4.3% | |
| 10 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 14 | 12.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Kill Devil Hills departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 99% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $300,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $8,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $5,000 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $2,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $2,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $1,500 | Dumpster or other outside trash receptacle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $1,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Kill Devil Hills sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
10 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 | 4 | |
| 10-19 | 2 | |
| 20-29 | 0 | |
| 30-39 | 0 | |
| 40-49 | 1 | |
| 50-59 | 1 | |
| 60-69 | 2 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 115,924 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Natural | 45,294 | 29.9 mi | |
| 2008 | Natural | 41,060 | 44.9 mi | |
| 2016 | Equipment and vehicle use | 15,449 | 29.7 mi | |
| 2003 | Firearms and explosives use | 2,300 | 23.5 mi | |
| 2000 | Firearms and explosives use | 1,552 | 15.6 mi | |
| 1992 | Natural | 1,200 | 46.3 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 900 | 25.7 mi | |
| 2007 | Debris and open burning | 886 | 18.7 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 760 | 25.7 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 700 | 49.0 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 681 | 31.1 mi | |
| 2009 | Natural | 665 | 10.0 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 | 27948 | 875 |
Six North Carolina cities with population within ±25% of Kill Devil Hills. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Kill Devil Hills.
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.