In 2025, fire departments serving Sunset Beach responded to 37 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $32K 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 65% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
224 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $636K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 49 | — | |
| 2022 | 50 | +2.0% | |
| 2023 | 45 | -10.0% | |
| 2024 | 43 | -4.4% | |
| 2025 | 37 | -14.0% |
For the 6 building fires Sunset Beach departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 54 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 | 8 | 14.8% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 5 | 9.3% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 5 | 9.3% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 7.4% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 4 | 7.4% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 3 | 5.6% | |
| 7 | Other | 2 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Office | 2 | 3.7% | |
| 9 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 3.7% | |
| 10 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 2 | 3.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 17 | 31.5% |
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 Sunset Beach mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 19 | 35.2% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 6 | 11.1% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 6 | 11.1% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 5 | 9.3% | |
| 5 | Cigarette | 5 | 9.3% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 5.6% | |
| 7 | Fireworks | 2 | 3.7% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 9 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 5 | 9.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Sunset Beach departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $32,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $30 | Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Sunset Beach sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 40,315 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 | 24.1 mi | |
| 1997 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,150 | 46.7 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,911 | 15.6 mi | |
| 2002 | Debris and open burning | 1,648 | 29.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 1,577 | 19.7 mi | |
| 2011 | Fireworks | 1,155 | 24.8 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,154 | 48.8 mi | |
| 2009 | Debris and open burning | 1,089 | 42.7 mi | |
| 1993 | Debris and open burning | 970 | 21.6 mi | |
| 1996 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 844 | 30.4 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 830 | 49.1 mi | |
| 2007 | Arson/incendiarism | 765 | 35.9 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 Sunset Beach. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Sunset Beach.
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.