In 2025, fire departments serving North Wilkesboro responded to 90 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $175K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 58% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
416 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $1.2M cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 81 | — | |
| 2022 | 101 | +24.7% | |
| 2023 | 84 | -16.8% | |
| 2024 | 60 | -28.6% | |
| 2025 | 90 | +50.0% |
For the 14 building fires North Wilkesboro departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 180 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 | 40 | 22.2% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 24 | 13.3% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 22 | 12.2% | |
| 4 | Wildland, woods | 15 | 8.3% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 14 | 7.8% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 12 | 6.7% | |
| 7 | Duct: hvac, cable, exhaust, heating, or AC | 9 | 5.0% | |
| 8 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 6 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 5 | 2.8% | |
| 10 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 4 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 29 | 16.1% |
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 North Wilkesboro mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 62 | 34.4% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 19 | 10.6% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 16 | 8.9% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 14 | 7.8% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 12 | 6.7% | |
| 6 | Cigarette lighter | 11 | 6.1% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 10 | 5.6% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 7 | 3.9% | |
| 9 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 7 | 3.9% | |
| 10 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 4 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 18 | 10.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by North Wilkesboro departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 95% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $175,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $35,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $10,000 | Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $10,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $7,500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. North Wilkesboro sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 42,034 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 | 46.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,431 | 47.6 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 5,500 | 49.3 mi | |
| 2007 | Natural | 5,015 | 47.9 mi | |
| 2013 | Recreation and ceremony | 2,579 | 46.2 mi | |
| 2008 | Other causes | 2,005 | 48.9 mi | |
| 2013 | Smoking | 1,509 | 43.5 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,450 | 24.3 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 800 | 14.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 737 | 30.0 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 730 | 29.2 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 675 | 38.3 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 North Carolina cities with population within ±25% of North Wilkesboro. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
3 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in North Wilkesboro.
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.