In 2025, fire departments serving Lincolnton responded to 400 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $224K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 44% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,057 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $1.3M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 140 | — | |
| 2022 | 191 | +36.4% | |
| 2023 | 186 | -2.6% | |
| 2024 | 140 | -24.7% | |
| 2025 | 400 | +185.7% |
For the 37 building fires Lincolnton departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 358 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 | 107 | 29.9% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 42 | 11.7% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 40 | 11.2% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 36 | 10.1% | |
| 5 | Wildland, woods | 23 | 6.4% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 21 | 5.9% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 12 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 9 | 2.5% | |
| 9 | Other | 7 | 2.0% | |
| 10 | Storage area, other | 7 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 54 | 15.1% |
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 Lincolnton mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 169 | 47.2% | |
| 2 | Cigarette lighter | 29 | 8.1% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 20 | 5.6% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 19 | 5.3% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 16 | 4.5% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 15 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Arcing | 15 | 4.2% | |
| 8 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 10 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 9 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 7 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 49 | 13.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Lincolnton departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 93% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $223,931 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $175,000 | Outside rubbish fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $12,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $7,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Lincolnton sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
5 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 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 4 | |
| 30-39 | 0 | |
| 40-49 | 0 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 1 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 45,173 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Recreation and ceremony | 10,120 | 48.9 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,431 | 24.1 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 5,500 | 43.9 mi | |
| 2007 | Natural | 5,015 | 44.5 mi | |
| 2013 | Recreation and ceremony | 2,579 | 46.1 mi | |
| 2007 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 2,404 | 45.3 mi | |
| 2001 | Debris and open burning | 2,235 | 48.5 mi | |
| 2008 | Other causes | 2,005 | 47.5 mi | |
| 2017 | Debris and open burning | 1,760 | 47.9 mi | |
| 2015 | Natural | 1,268 | 47.3 mi | |
| 2007 | Natural | 820 | 46.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 670 | 46.0 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 Lincolnton. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
5 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Lincolnton.
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.