In 2025, fire departments serving Lexington responded to 582 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $200K 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 38% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
2,553 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $3.4M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 581 | — | |
| 2022 | 385 | -33.7% | |
| 2023 | 541 | +40.5% | |
| 2024 | 464 | -14.2% | |
| 2025 | 582 | +25.4% |
For the 64 building fires Lexington departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 393 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 | 89 | 22.6% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 66 | 16.8% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 40 | 10.2% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 39 | 9.9% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 28 | 7.1% | |
| 6 | Wildland, woods | 17 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 10 | 2.5% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 9 | 2.3% | |
| 9 | Vehicle area, other | 8 | 2.0% | |
| 10 | Other | 7 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 80 | 20.4% |
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 Lexington mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 219 | 55.7% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 27 | 6.9% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 25 | 6.4% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 16 | 4.1% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 16 | 4.1% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 14 | 3.6% | |
| 7 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 10 | 2.5% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 9 | 2.3% | |
| 9 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 8 | 2.0% | |
| 10 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 7 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 42 | 10.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Lexington departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 65% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $200,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $90,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $42,950 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $35,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $24,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Lexington sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,855 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 675 | 39.1 mi | |
| 1995 | Equipment and vehicle use | 500 | 46.1 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 363 | 39.2 mi | |
| 1996 | Equipment and vehicle use | 214 | 13.3 mi | |
| 1993 | Natural | 200 | 46.9 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 161 | 31.5 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 150 | 40.0 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 150 | 22.8 mi | |
| 1996 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 115 | 33.6 mi | |
| 2007 | Recreation and ceremony | 107 | 30.1 mi | |
| 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 100 | 32.7 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 45.1 mi |
Top 6 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 Lexington. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
4 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Lexington.
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.