In 2025, fire departments serving Mars Hill responded to 58 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $15K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Hazardous condition, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 74% of all calls.
Feb peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
170 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $87K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 57 | — | |
| 2022 | 39 | -31.6% | |
| 2023* | 16 | — | |
| 2024* | 0 | — | |
| 2025 | 58 | — |
* Well below Mars Hill's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.
For the 7 building fires Mars Hill departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 35 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 9 | 25.7% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 6 | 17.1% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 5 | 14.3% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 4 | 11.4% | |
| 5 | Other | 2 | 5.7% | |
| 6 | Storage area, other | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 7 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Conduit, pipe, utility, or ventilation shaft | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Equipment or service area, other | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Ceiling & floor assembly, crawl space b/t stories | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 4 | 11.4% |
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 Mars Hill mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 13 | 37.1% | |
| 2 | Cigarette lighter | 6 | 17.1% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 5 | 14.3% | |
| 4 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 5.7% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Cigarette | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Chemical reaction | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 3 | 8.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Mars Hill departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Mars Hill sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 75,823 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 | 36.5 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 7,913 | 32.4 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 5,964 | 15.1 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 5,500 | 36.3 mi | |
| 2007 | Natural | 5,015 | 36.9 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,163 | 26.5 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,943 | 18.0 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 2,738 | 22.0 mi | |
| 2013 | Recreation and ceremony | 2,579 | 37.4 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 2,436 | 34.8 mi | |
| 2007 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 2,404 | 35.0 mi | |
| 2009 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 2,307 | 45.6 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 28754 | 170 |
Six North Carolina cities with population within ±25% of Mars Hill. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Mars Hill.
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.