In 2025, fire departments serving North responded to 123 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $130K 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 62% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
619 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $2.7M cumulative property loss. 3 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 148 | — | |
| 2022 | 109 | -26.4% | |
| 2023 | 121 | +11.0% | |
| 2024 | 118 | -2.5% | |
| 2025 | 123 | +4.2% |
For the 26 building fires North departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 137 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 | 65 | 47.4% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 19 | 13.9% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 8 | 5.8% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 6 | 4.4% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 5 | 3.6% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 4 | 2.9% | |
| 7 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 4 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 3 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Wall surface: exterior | 3 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Wildland, woods | 3 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 17 | 12.4% |
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 North mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 93 | 67.9% | |
| 2 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 8 | 5.8% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 7 | 5.1% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 5 | 3.6% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 5 | 3.6% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 2.2% | |
| 7 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 3 | 2.2% | |
| 8 | Heat source: other | 2 | 1.5% | |
| 9 | Candle | 2 | 1.5% | |
| 10 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 2 | 1.5% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 7 | 5.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by North departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 93% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $130,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $100,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $84,900 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $76,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $75,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $45,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. North sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 15,397 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,684 | 38.0 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,484 | 31.7 mi | |
| 2007 | Debris and open burning | 985 | 40.0 mi | |
| 2017 | Debris and open burning | 950 | 32.2 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 709 | 46.8 mi | |
| 1993 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 650 | 5.4 mi | |
| 2001 | Equipment and vehicle use | 549 | 41.3 mi | |
| 1995 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 460 | 48.3 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 373 | 49.2 mi | |
| 1993 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 373 | 35.1 mi | |
| 1998 | Natural | 368 | 43.6 mi | |
| 1997 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 350 | 26.9 mi |
Top 2 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six South Carolina cities with population within ±25% of North. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in North.
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.