In 2025, fire departments serving Mebane responded to 182 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $200K 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 58% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,237 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $2.7M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 282 | — | |
| 2022 | 344 | +22.0% | |
| 2023 | 181 | -47.4% | |
| 2024 | 248 | +37.0% | |
| 2025 | 182 | -26.6% |
For the 38 building fires Mebane departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 417 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 | 79 | 18.9% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 62 | 14.9% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 49 | 11.8% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 37 | 8.9% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 37 | 8.9% | |
| 6 | Wildland, woods | 19 | 4.6% | |
| 7 | Wall surface: exterior | 16 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 13 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 9 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 8 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 88 | 21.1% |
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 Mebane mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 170 | 40.8% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 61 | 14.6% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 23 | 5.5% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 18 | 4.3% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 16 | 3.8% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 16 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Cigarette lighter | 16 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 16 | 3.8% | |
| 9 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 13 | 3.1% | |
| 10 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 11 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 57 | 13.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Mebane departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 87% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $180,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $175,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $50,000 | Rail vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $50,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $25,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Mebane sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 6,530 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 | 1,778 | 46.3 mi | |
| 1995 | Equipment and vehicle use | 500 | 31.2 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 456 | 37.8 mi | |
| 2018 | Recreation and ceremony | 339 | 37.0 mi | |
| 1996 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 330 | 47.2 mi | |
| 2009 | Arson/incendiarism | 300 | 37.7 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 289 | 4.8 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 257 | 49.6 mi | |
| 2001 | Debris and open burning | 254 | 46.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 250 | 43.4 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 216 | 43.2 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 180 | 47.9 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 Mebane. 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.