In 2025, fire departments serving Rural Hall responded to 66 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $350K 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 58% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
397 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $1.8M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 81 | — | |
| 2022 | 105 | +29.6% | |
| 2023 | 74 | -29.5% | |
| 2024 | 71 | -4.1% | |
| 2025 | 66 | -7.0% |
For the 10 building fires Rural Hall departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 104 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 | 18 | 17.3% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 17 | 16.3% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 12 | 11.5% | |
| 4 | Wildland, woods | 10 | 9.6% | |
| 5 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 8 | 7.7% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 6 | 5.8% | |
| 7 | Undetermined | 6 | 5.8% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 4 | 3.8% | |
| 9 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 3 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 2 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 18 | 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 Rural Hall mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 36 | 34.6% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 19 | 18.3% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 9 | 8.7% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 7 | 6.7% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 4 | 3.8% | |
| 6 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 4 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Heat, spark from friction | 3 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 3 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Cigarette | 3 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 13 | 12.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Rural Hall departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $350,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $174,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $25,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $8,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $1,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $1,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Rural Hall sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 9,662 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Natural | 3,696 | 34.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 737 | 38.9 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 730 | 39.9 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 675 | 13.1 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 484 | 36.7 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 363 | 10.1 mi | |
| 2000 | Natural | 310 | 48.4 mi | |
| 1994 | Natural | 262 | 48.7 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 260 | 44.7 mi | |
| 1996 | Equipment and vehicle use | 214 | 40.1 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 210 | 40.7 mi | |
| 2007 | Recreation and ceremony | 175 | 27.4 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 North Carolina cities with population within ±25% of Rural Hall. 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.