In 2025, fire departments serving Murphy responded to 101 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $25K 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 72% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
816 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $634K cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 242 | — | |
| 2022 | 230 | -5.0% | |
| 2023 | 131 | -43.0% | |
| 2024 | 112 | -14.5% | |
| 2025 | 101 | -9.8% |
For the 37 building fires Murphy departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 251 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 | Undetermined | 53 | 21.1% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 49 | 19.5% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 37 | 14.7% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 24 | 9.6% | |
| 5 | Wildland, woods | 14 | 5.6% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 10 | 4.0% | |
| 7 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 6 | 2.4% | |
| 8 | Other | 5 | 2.0% | |
| 9 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 5 | 2.0% | |
| 10 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 5 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 43 | 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 Murphy mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 125 | 49.8% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 23 | 9.2% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 14 | 5.6% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 14 | 5.6% | |
| 5 | Cigarette lighter | 11 | 4.4% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 10 | 4.0% | |
| 7 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 8 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Heat source: other | 7 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Lightning | 7 | 2.8% | |
| 10 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 6 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 26 | 10.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Murphy departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 94% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $25,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $8,000 | Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $3,160 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $3,000 | Special outside fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $2,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Murphy sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
5 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 | 1 | |
| 40-49 | 0 | |
| 50-59 | 2 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 133,844 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Natural | 27,870 | 33.3 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 24,725 | 29.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 17,140 | 48.4 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 10,641 | 29.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Natural | 9,036 | 21.3 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 7,788 | 22.1 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 7,580 | 43.1 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,422 | 28.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,231 | 25.7 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,200 | 34.0 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,048 | 28.1 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,040 | 26.5 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 28906 | 816 |
Six North Carolina cities with population within ±25% of Murphy. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
5 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Murphy.
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.