In 2025, fire departments serving Mount Pleasant responded to 44 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $400K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 46% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
131 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $609K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 12 | — | |
| 2022 | 20 | — | |
| 2023 | 37 | +85.0% | |
| 2024 | 18 | -51.4% | |
| 2025 | 44 | +144.4% |
* Well below Mount Pleasant'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 2 building fires Mount Pleasant departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 49 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 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 19 | 38.8% | |
| 2 | Wildland, woods | 6 | 12.2% | |
| 3 | Vehicle area, other | 3 | 6.1% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 6.1% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 3 | 6.1% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 4.1% | |
| 7 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 2 | 4.1% | |
| 8 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 2 | 4.1% | |
| 9 | Outside area, other | 2 | 4.1% | |
| 10 | Other | 1 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 6 | 12.2% |
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 Pleasant mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 9 | 18.4% | |
| 2 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 7 | 14.3% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 6 | 12.2% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 6.1% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 3 | 6.1% | |
| 6 | Cigarette lighter | 3 | 6.1% | |
| 7 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 3 | 6.1% | |
| 8 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 3 | 6.1% | |
| 9 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 4.1% | |
| 10 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 2 | 4.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 8 | 16.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Mount Pleasant departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $400,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Mount Pleasant sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 3,596 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Natural | 400 | 39.1 mi | |
| 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 290 | 44.1 mi | |
| 1993 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 250 | 29.4 mi | |
| 1996 | Equipment and vehicle use | 214 | 28.1 mi | |
| 1993 | Natural | 200 | 30.8 mi | |
| 1992 | Debris and open burning | 150 | 45.9 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 150 | 48.5 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 150 | 23.7 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 150 | 24.0 mi | |
| 1996 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 115 | 37.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Natural | 115 | 48.5 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 114 | 47.9 mi |
Top 4 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 Pleasant. 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.