In 2025, fire departments serving Oak Island responded to 42 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $30K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Fire, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 48% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
289 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $2.3M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 94 | — | |
| 2022 | 80 | -14.9% | |
| 2023* | 16 | — | |
| 2024 | 57 | — | |
| 2025 | 42 | -26.3% |
* Well below Oak Island'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 4 building fires Oak Island departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 94 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 | 19 | 20.2% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 14 | 14.9% | |
| 3 | Vacant structural area | 5 | 5.3% | |
| 4 | Other | 4 | 4.3% | |
| 5 | Storage area, other | 4 | 4.3% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 4 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 4 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Undetermined | 4 | 4.3% | |
| 9 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 3 | 3.2% | |
| 10 | Function area, other | 3 | 3.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 30 | 31.9% |
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 Oak Island mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 25 | 26.6% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 13 | 13.8% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 8 | 8.5% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 7 | 7.4% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 7 | 7.4% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 6 | 6.4% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 5 | 5.3% | |
| 8 | Cigarette lighter | 4 | 4.3% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 3.2% | |
| 10 | Fireworks | 3 | 3.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 13 | 13.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Oak Island departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $30,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $10,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $7,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $21 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Oak Island sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 73,557 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 | 49.2 mi | |
| 2009 | Debris and open burning | 19,130 | 45.8 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 2,727 | 44.1 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,084 | 46.1 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,911 | 37.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 1,577 | 4.8 mi | |
| 1993 | Natural | 1,216 | 47.3 mi | |
| 2011 | Fireworks | 1,155 | 46.4 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,154 | 31.9 mi | |
| 2017 | Debris and open burning | 1,126 | 47.3 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,100 | 33.9 mi | |
| 1993 | Debris and open burning | 970 | 1.1 mi |
Top 3 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 Oak Island. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Oak Island.
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.