In 2025, fire departments serving Lumberton responded to 449 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $121K 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 52% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
3,026 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $6.7M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 688 | — | |
| 2022 | 738 | +7.3% | |
| 2023 | 602 | -18.4% | |
| 2024 | 549 | -8.8% | |
| 2025 | 449 | -18.2% |
For the 53 building fires Lumberton departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 1,110 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 | 320 | 28.8% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 235 | 21.2% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 78 | 7.0% | |
| 4 | Wildland, woods | 78 | 7.0% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 75 | 6.8% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 30 | 2.7% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 29 | 2.6% | |
| 8 | Other | 22 | 2.0% | |
| 9 | Vehicle area, other | 21 | 1.9% | |
| 10 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 20 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 202 | 18.2% |
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 Lumberton mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 754 | 67.9% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 41 | 3.7% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 37 | 3.3% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 37 | 3.3% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 34 | 3.1% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 30 | 2.7% | |
| 7 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 27 | 2.4% | |
| 8 | Cigarette lighter | 24 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 20 | 1.8% | |
| 10 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 19 | 1.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 87 | 7.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Lumberton departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 56% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $121,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $60,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $43,750 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $40,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $40,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Lumberton sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 24,324 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Natural | 5,438 | 22.4 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,084 | 47.2 mi | |
| 2017 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,358 | 36.2 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,181 | 35.0 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,164 | 21.5 mi | |
| 2016 | Equipment and vehicle use | 969 | 38.3 mi | |
| 1993 | Debris and open burning | 900 | 40.8 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 830 | 38.9 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 795 | 10.7 mi | |
| 2007 | Arson/incendiarism | 765 | 34.5 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 750 | 40.5 mi | |
| 1992 | Debris and open burning | 716 | 39.7 mi |
Top 10 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 Lumberton. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
5 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Lumberton.
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.