In 2025, fire departments serving Northwest responded to 20 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $5K 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 70% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
104 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $6K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 10 | — | |
| 2022 | 28 | — | |
| 2023 | 26 | -7.1% | |
| 2024 | 20 | -23.1% | |
| 2025 | 20 | +0.0% |
* Well below Northwest'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 6 building fires Northwest departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 43 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 | 16 | 37.2% | |
| 2 | Wildland, woods | 7 | 16.3% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 5 | 11.6% | |
| 4 | Vehicle area, other | 3 | 7.0% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 7.0% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 3 | 7.0% | |
| 7 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 4.7% | |
| 8 | Exterior, exposed surface | 2 | 4.7% | |
| 9 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Storage area, other | 1 | 2.3% |
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 Northwest mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 10 | 23.3% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 8 | 18.6% | |
| 3 | Heat, spark from friction | 6 | 14.0% | |
| 4 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 5 | 11.6% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 7.0% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 7.0% | |
| 7 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 2 | 4.7% | |
| 8 | Arcing | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Cigarette | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 3 | 7.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Northwest departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $500 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $1 | Forest, woods or wildland fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Northwest sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 62,014 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Natural | 31,140 | 31.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 5,438 | 49.0 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 2,727 | 28.3 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,084 | 20.5 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,911 | 49.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 1,577 | 22.3 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,533 | 33.7 mi | |
| 1994 | Natural | 1,300 | 32.1 mi | |
| 1993 | Natural | 1,216 | 28.3 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,154 | 16.8 mi | |
| 2017 | Debris and open burning | 1,126 | 28.2 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,100 | 21.4 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 Northwest. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Northwest.
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.