In 2025, fire departments serving Morganton responded to 292 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K 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 47% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
2,214 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $3.3M cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 478 | — | |
| 2022 | 357 | -25.3% | |
| 2023 | 509 | +42.6% | |
| 2024 | 578 | +13.6% | |
| 2025 | 292 | -49.5% |
For the 51 building fires Morganton departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 869 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 | 265 | 30.5% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 107 | 12.3% | |
| 3 | Other | 82 | 9.4% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 74 | 8.5% | |
| 5 | Wildland, woods | 48 | 5.5% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 46 | 5.3% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 31 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 27 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 26 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 14 | 1.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 149 | 17.1% |
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 Morganton mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 415 | 47.8% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 73 | 8.4% | |
| 3 | Cigarette lighter | 55 | 6.3% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 38 | 4.4% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 37 | 4.3% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 36 | 4.1% | |
| 7 | Arcing | 35 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Match | 24 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 21 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 19 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 116 | 13.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Morganton departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 92% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $60,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $46,530 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $44,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $12,377 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $8,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $6,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Morganton sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
20 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 | 2 | |
| 10-19 | 1 | |
| 20-29 | 4 | |
| 30-39 | 4 | |
| 40-49 | 4 | |
| 50-59 | 5 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 66,096 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 | 17.4 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 7,913 | 34.8 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,431 | 9.7 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 5,500 | 12.3 mi | |
| 2007 | Natural | 5,015 | 12.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,163 | 22.6 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 2,738 | 38.2 mi | |
| 2013 | Recreation and ceremony | 2,579 | 14.5 mi | |
| 2007 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 2,404 | 13.7 mi | |
| 2001 | Debris and open burning | 2,235 | 27.3 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,050 | 40.7 mi | |
| 2008 | Other causes | 2,005 | 15.7 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 Morganton. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
4 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Morganton.
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.