In 2025, fire departments serving Littleton responded to 28 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $24K 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 75% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
172 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $313K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 33 | — | |
| 2022 | 34 | +3.0% | |
| 2023 | 37 | +8.8% | |
| 2024 | 40 | +8.1% | |
| 2025 | 28 | -30.0% |
For the 8 building fires Littleton departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 93 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 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 25 | 26.9% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 14 | 15.1% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 13 | 14.0% | |
| 4 | Wildland, woods | 8 | 8.6% | |
| 5 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 5 | 5.4% | |
| 6 | Outside area, other | 4 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Undetermined | 4 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Storage area, other | 3 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 3 | 3.2% | |
| 10 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 2 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 12 | 12.9% |
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 Littleton mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 24 | 25.8% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 24 | 25.8% | |
| 3 | Heat from undetermined smoking material | 13 | 14.0% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 7 | 7.5% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 3.2% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 3.2% | |
| 7 | Lightning | 3 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 3 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 3 | 3.2% | |
| 10 | Conducted heat from another fire | 3 | 3.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 7 | 7.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Littleton departments in 2025. These 5 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $23,900 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $5,900 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $4,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $2,500 | Water vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Littleton sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 16,672 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 | 2,850 | 44.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,030 | 17.3 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,012 | 14.5 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,778 | 35.5 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,521 | 24.1 mi | |
| 2008 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,250 | 30.5 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 865 | 42.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 545 | 36.8 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 456 | 46.6 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 47.4 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 274 | 32.4 mi | |
| 2010 | Smoking | 274 | 34.2 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 Littleton. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Littleton.
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.