In 2025, fire departments serving Pinehurst responded to 71 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $200K 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 61% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
530 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $2.8M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 99 | — | |
| 2022 | 193 | +94.9% | |
| 2023 | 80 | -58.5% | |
| 2024 | 87 | +8.8% | |
| 2025 | 71 | -18.4% |
For the 11 building fires Pinehurst departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 108 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 | Cooking area, kitchen | 20 | 18.5% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 20 | 18.5% | |
| 3 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 9 | 8.3% | |
| 4 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 5 | 4.6% | |
| 5 | Wildland, woods | 5 | 4.6% | |
| 6 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 3.7% | |
| 7 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 4 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 3 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Storage room, area, tank, or bin | 3 | 2.8% | |
| 10 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 3 | 2.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 32 | 29.6% |
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 Pinehurst mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 37 | 34.3% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 12 | 11.1% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 12 | 11.1% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 11 | 10.2% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 7 | 6.5% | |
| 6 | Cigarette lighter | 5 | 4.6% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Heat source: other | 3 | 2.8% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 1.9% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 13 | 12.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Pinehurst departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $10,000 | Outside rubbish fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $500 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Pinehurst sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 19,959 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Natural | 5,438 | 48.7 mi | |
| 2017 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,358 | 15.9 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,181 | 14.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,164 | 45.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Equipment and vehicle use | 969 | 13.9 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 750 | 27.4 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 697 | 14.2 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 669 | 16.0 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 586 | 14.3 mi | |
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 550 | 42.6 mi | |
| 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 547 | 16.4 mi | |
| 1995 | Equipment and vehicle use | 500 | 32.4 mi |
Top 9 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 Pinehurst. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Pinehurst.
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.