In 2025, fire departments serving Oakboro responded to 51 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $48K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 73% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Apr dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
232 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $1.3M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 43 | — | |
| 2022 | 39 | -9.3% | |
| 2023 | 55 | +41.0% | |
| 2024 | 44 | -20.0% | |
| 2025 | 51 | +15.9% |
For the 9 building fires Oakboro departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 101 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 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 20 | 19.8% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 16 | 15.8% | |
| 3 | Wildland, woods | 16 | 15.8% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 11 | 10.9% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 11 | 10.9% | |
| 6 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 5 | 5.0% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 4 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Function area, other | 2 | 2.0% | |
| 9 | Equipment or service area, other | 2 | 2.0% | |
| 10 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 2 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 12 | 11.9% |
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 Oakboro mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 30 | 29.7% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 10 | 9.9% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 9 | 8.9% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 8 | 7.9% | |
| 5 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 7 | 6.9% | |
| 6 | Cigarette lighter | 6 | 5.9% | |
| 7 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 4.0% | |
| 9 | Match | 4 | 4.0% | |
| 10 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 4 | 4.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 15 | 14.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Oakboro departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $48,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $1,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Oakboro sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 10,283 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Equipment and vehicle use | 969 | 48.3 mi | |
| 1997 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 800 | 45.6 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 669 | 48.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 586 | 48.1 mi | |
| 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 547 | 49.8 mi | |
| 2014 | Equipment and vehicle use | 454 | 48.1 mi | |
| 1997 | Equipment and vehicle use | 450 | 48.6 mi | |
| 1993 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 420 | 48.2 mi | |
| 1996 | Natural | 400 | 27.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Natural | 397 | 49.8 mi | |
| 2014 | Natural | 395 | 41.6 mi | |
| 2019 | Arson/incendiarism | 387 | 49.7 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 Oakboro. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
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.