In 2025, fire departments serving Liberty responded to 147 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $10K 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 61% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
581 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $791K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 99 | — | |
| 2022 | 141 | +42.4% | |
| 2023 | 85 | -39.7% | |
| 2024 | 109 | +28.2% | |
| 2025 | 147 | +34.9% |
For the 36 building fires Liberty departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 176 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 | 39 | 22.2% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 28 | 15.9% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 26 | 14.8% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 13 | 7.4% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 13 | 7.4% | |
| 6 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 5 | 2.8% | |
| 7 | Other | 4 | 2.3% | |
| 8 | Storage: supplies or tools; dead storage | 4 | 2.3% | |
| 9 | Vehicle area, other | 4 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Wildland, woods | 4 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 36 | 20.5% |
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 Liberty mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 81 | 46.0% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 13 | 7.4% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 12 | 6.8% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 11 | 6.2% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 8 | 4.5% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 7 | 4.0% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 7 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Chemical reaction | 7 | 4.0% | |
| 9 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 7 | 4.0% | |
| 10 | Match | 5 | 2.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 18 | 10.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Liberty departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 98% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $3,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $3,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $1,400 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $800 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $500 | Natural vegetation fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $500 | Natural vegetation fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Liberty sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 5,147 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Equipment and vehicle use | 500 | 14.6 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 500 | 49.5 mi | |
| 2018 | Recreation and ceremony | 339 | 37.2 mi | |
| 1996 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 330 | 30.1 mi | |
| 2009 | Arson/incendiarism | 300 | 38.1 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 289 | 22.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 267 | 44.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 250 | 39.9 mi | |
| 1996 | Equipment and vehicle use | 214 | 32.5 mi | |
| 1993 | Natural | 200 | 49.5 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 180 | 31.1 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 179 | 44.1 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 Liberty. 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.