In 2025, fire departments serving Richfield responded to 10 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $60K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Authorized controlled burning lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 70% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
66 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $538K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 4 | — | |
| 2022* | 5 | — | |
| 2023 | 22 | — | |
| 2024 | 25 | +13.6% | |
| 2025 | 10 | -60.0% |
* Well below Richfield'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 1 building fires Richfield departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 21 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 | 9 | 42.9% | |
| 2 | Exterior stairway, ramp, or fire escape | 2 | 9.5% | |
| 3 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 9.5% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 9.5% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 2 | 9.5% | |
| 6 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 8 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 9 | Separate operator/control area of transportation | 1 | 4.8% |
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 Richfield mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 15 | 71.4% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 14.3% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 9.5% | |
| 4 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 4.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Richfield departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $60,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $20,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Richfield sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 4,902 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Equipment and vehicle use | 500 | 46.5 mi | |
| 1996 | Natural | 400 | 43.0 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 373 | 47.3 mi | |
| 1996 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 330 | 43.3 mi | |
| 1993 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 250 | 32.2 mi | |
| 1996 | Equipment and vehicle use | 214 | 16.2 mi | |
| 1993 | Natural | 200 | 26.6 mi | |
| 2017 | Recreation and ceremony | 197 | 47.7 mi | |
| 1996 | Debris and open burning | 192 | 48.9 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 180 | 44.3 mi | |
| 2012 | Equipment and vehicle use | 175 | 45.7 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 165 | 49.9 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 Richfield. 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.