In 2025, fire departments serving Richlands responded to 174 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $7K 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 71% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
957 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $1.8M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 182 | — | |
| 2022 | 235 | +29.1% | |
| 2023 | 166 | -29.4% | |
| 2024 | 200 | +20.5% | |
| 2025 | 174 | -13.0% |
For the 35 building fires Richlands departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 306 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 | 70 | 22.9% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 66 | 21.6% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 32 | 10.5% | |
| 4 | Wildland, woods | 24 | 7.8% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 17 | 5.6% | |
| 6 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 16 | 5.2% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 9 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 8 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Other | 6 | 2.0% | |
| 10 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 5 | 1.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 53 | 17.3% |
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 Richlands mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 125 | 40.8% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 29 | 9.5% | |
| 3 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 17 | 5.6% | |
| 4 | Cigarette lighter | 16 | 5.2% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 14 | 4.6% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 14 | 4.6% | |
| 7 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 14 | 4.6% | |
| 8 | Heat source: other | 10 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 9 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 8 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 50 | 16.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Richlands departments in 2025. These 6 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $6,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $4,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $500 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $500 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $250 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Richlands sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 105,393 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 | 25.7 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 24,600 | 24.2 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 21,331 | 29.9 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,400 | 26.4 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 2,727 | 31.5 mi | |
| 2009 | Natural | 2,660 | 35.2 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,084 | 41.8 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,533 | 22.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,327 | 33.0 mi | |
| 1994 | Natural | 1,300 | 22.8 mi | |
| 1993 | Natural | 1,216 | 27.1 mi | |
| 2013 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,157 | 31.7 mi |
Top 5 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 Richlands. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
3 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Richlands.
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.