In 2025, fire departments serving Pittsboro responded to 53 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $125K 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 55% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
224 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $1.5M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 25 | — | |
| 2022 | 44 | — | |
| 2023 | 44 | +0.0% | |
| 2024 | 58 | +31.8% | |
| 2025 | 53 | -8.6% |
* Well below Pittsboro'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 7 building fires Pittsboro departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 63 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 | Undetermined | 19 | 30.2% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 9 | 14.3% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 7 | 11.1% | |
| 4 | Wall assembly | 4 | 6.3% | |
| 5 | Storage room, area, tank, or bin | 3 | 4.8% | |
| 6 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 3 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Outside area, other | 3 | 4.8% | |
| 8 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 2 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Processing/manufacturing area, workroom | 2 | 3.2% | |
| 10 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 2 | 3.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 9 | 14.3% |
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 Pittsboro mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 32 | 50.8% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 7 | 11.1% | |
| 3 | Heat, spark from friction | 5 | 7.9% | |
| 4 | Cigarette lighter | 3 | 4.8% | |
| 5 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 3.2% | |
| 6 | Lightning | 2 | 3.2% | |
| 7 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 2 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Heat source: other | 1 | 1.6% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 1.6% | |
| 10 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 1.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 7 | 11.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Pittsboro departments in 2025. These 7 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $125,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $120,000 | Camper or recreational vehicle (RV) fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $10,000 | Outside equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $8,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $500 | Arcing, shorted electrical equipment | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $1 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Pittsboro sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 5 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,925 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,549 | 42.8 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 165 | 46.8 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 156 | 46.3 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 40 | 40.7 mi | |
| 2004 | Arson/incendiarism | 15 | 37.3 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 Indiana cities with population within ±25% of Pittsboro. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Pittsboro.
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.