In 2025, fire departments serving Smithfield responded to 246 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K 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 43% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,487 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $1.3M cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 319 | — | |
| 2022 | 326 | +2.2% | |
| 2023 | 277 | -15.0% | |
| 2024 | 319 | +15.2% | |
| 2025 | 246 | -22.9% |
For the 45 building fires Smithfield departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 521 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 | Outside area, other | 112 | 21.5% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 65 | 12.5% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 61 | 11.7% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 58 | 11.1% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 40 | 7.7% | |
| 6 | Wildland, woods | 30 | 5.8% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 20 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Other | 19 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 12 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 10 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 94 | 18.0% |
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 Smithfield mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 245 | 47.0% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 49 | 9.4% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 34 | 6.5% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 25 | 4.8% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 22 | 4.2% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 22 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Cigarette lighter | 20 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 19 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 14 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 11 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 60 | 11.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Smithfield departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 76% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $95,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $70,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $35,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $25,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $20,720 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Smithfield sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
14 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 | 1 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 3 | |
| 30-39 | 1 | |
| 40-49 | 2 | |
| 50-59 | 2 | |
| 60-69 | 2 | |
| 70-79 | 1 | |
| 80+ | 2 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 8,907 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,778 | 44.8 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 750 | 41.2 mi | |
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 550 | 35.3 mi | |
| 2000 | Debris and open burning | 500 | 48.2 mi | |
| 2000 | Smoking | 400 | 38.6 mi | |
| 2018 | Recreation and ceremony | 339 | 36.1 mi | |
| 2009 | Arson/incendiarism | 300 | 35.2 mi | |
| 2000 | Equipment and vehicle use | 300 | 27.6 mi | |
| 1993 | Arson/incendiarism | 275 | 38.5 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 274 | 43.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 267 | 46.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 260 | 36.2 mi |
Top 8 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 Smithfield. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
3 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Smithfield.
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.