In 2025, fire departments serving Mount Holly responded to 164 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $150K 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 54% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
941 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $2.1M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 194 | — | |
| 2022 | 229 | +18.0% | |
| 2023 | 211 | -7.9% | |
| 2024 | 143 | -32.2% | |
| 2025 | 164 | +14.7% |
For the 29 building fires Mount Holly departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 199 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 | 47 | 23.6% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 27 | 13.6% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 19 | 9.5% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 18 | 9.0% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 15 | 7.5% | |
| 6 | Other | 11 | 5.5% | |
| 7 | Wildland, woods | 8 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 6 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 5 | 2.5% | |
| 10 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 3 | 1.5% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 40 | 20.1% |
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 Mount Holly mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 73 | 36.7% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 19 | 9.5% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 13 | 6.5% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 13 | 6.5% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 11 | 5.5% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 10 | 5.0% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 9 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 8 | 4.0% | |
| 9 | Cigarette | 8 | 4.0% | |
| 10 | Cigarette lighter | 7 | 3.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 28 | 14.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Mount Holly departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 98% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $60,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $24,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $10,000 | Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $8,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $2,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Mount Holly sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 10,434 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,431 | 40.8 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 562 | 43.5 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 535 | 43.7 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 493 | 47.7 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 47.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Debris and open burning | 200 | 47.1 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 165 | 45.9 mi | |
| 1993 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 140 | 32.8 mi | |
| 2002 | Smoking | 136 | 37.7 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 125 | 46.4 mi | |
| 1992 | Natural | 116 | 26.2 mi | |
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 116 | 18.9 mi |
Top 5 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 Mount Holly. 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.