In 2025, fire departments serving Morehead City responded to 94 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $15K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 45% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
664 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $3.3M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 132 | — | |
| 2022 | 134 | +1.5% | |
| 2023 | 136 | +1.5% | |
| 2024 | 168 | +23.5% | |
| 2025 | 94 | -44.0% |
For the 5 building fires Morehead City departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 301 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 | 76 | 25.2% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 32 | 10.6% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 29 | 9.6% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 19 | 6.3% | |
| 5 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 18 | 6.0% | |
| 6 | Undetermined | 18 | 6.0% | |
| 7 | Other | 13 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Wall surface: exterior | 11 | 3.7% | |
| 9 | Wildland, woods | 9 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Vehicle area, other | 7 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 69 | 22.9% |
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 Morehead City mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 122 | 40.5% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 23 | 7.6% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 18 | 6.0% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 18 | 6.0% | |
| 5 | Cigarette lighter | 14 | 4.7% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 13 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 11 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Match | 9 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Radiated heat from another fire | 9 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Cigarette | 8 | 2.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 56 | 18.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Morehead City departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $5,000 | Dumpster or other outside trash receptacle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $5,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $4,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $1,000 | Arcing, shorted electrical equipment | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $750 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Morehead City sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
6 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 | 1 | |
| 30-39 | 0 | |
| 40-49 | 2 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 3 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 76,110 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 24,600 | 23.9 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 21,331 | 21.1 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,265 | 21.0 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,400 | 20.8 mi | |
| 2009 | Natural | 2,660 | 12.1 mi | |
| 1999 | Natural | 2,000 | 28.6 mi | |
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,000 | 47.5 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,500 | 26.7 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,360 | 24.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,327 | 14.2 mi | |
| 2013 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,157 | 16.3 mi | |
| 2002 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,001 | 24.7 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 Morehead City. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Morehead City.
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.