In 2025, fire departments serving Shallotte responded to 195 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $210K 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 55% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
707 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $1.1M cumulative property loss. 5 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 108 | — | |
| 2022 | 183 | +69.4% | |
| 2023 | 99 | -45.9% | |
| 2024 | 122 | +23.2% | |
| 2025 | 195 | +59.8% |
For the 45 building fires Shallotte departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 228 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 | 66 | 28.9% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 39 | 17.1% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 24 | 10.5% | |
| 4 | Wildland, woods | 15 | 6.6% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 13 | 5.7% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 12 | 5.3% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 6 | 2.6% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 5 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Other | 4 | 1.8% | |
| 10 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 4 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 40 | 17.5% |
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 Shallotte mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 123 | 53.9% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 14 | 6.1% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 13 | 5.7% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 12 | 5.3% | |
| 5 | Cigarette lighter | 9 | 3.9% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 7 | 3.1% | |
| 7 | Arcing | 7 | 3.1% | |
| 8 | Cigarette | 6 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 5 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 28 | 12.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Shallotte departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 97% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $210,330 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $47,070 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $45,000 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $35,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $10,250 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $8,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $5,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Shallotte sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
7 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 1 | |
| 30-39 | 0 | |
| 40-49 | 0 | |
| 50-59 | 1 | |
| 60-69 | 5 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 41,269 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Debris and open burning | 19,130 | 32.8 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,084 | 45.1 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,911 | 24.8 mi | |
| 2002 | Debris and open burning | 1,648 | 38.5 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 1,577 | 11.0 mi | |
| 2011 | Fireworks | 1,155 | 34.0 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,154 | 39.3 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,100 | 42.6 mi | |
| 1993 | Debris and open burning | 970 | 13.7 mi | |
| 1993 | Debris and open burning | 900 | 46.2 mi | |
| 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 844 | 39.7 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 830 | 42.3 mi |
Top 4 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 Shallotte. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
3 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Shallotte.
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.