In 2025, fire departments serving Surf City responded to 35 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $500 building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Incomplete 2025 data. Surf City's departments reported 35 incidents to NFIRS for 2025, against about 69 in a typical year, so 2025 figures on this page undercount. The 2021–2025 totals are the better guide.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 60% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
347 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $465K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 83 | — | |
| 2022 | 74 | -10.8% | |
| 2023 | 68 | -8.1% | |
| 2024 | 87 | +27.9% | |
| 2025* | 35 | — |
* Well below Surf City's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.
For the 5 building fires Surf City departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 75 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 | 13 | 17.3% | |
| 2 | Other | 10 | 13.3% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 9 | 12.0% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 8 | 10.7% | |
| 5 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 7 | 9.3% | |
| 6 | Outside area, other | 6 | 8.0% | |
| 7 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 5.3% | |
| 8 | Storage: supplies or tools; dead storage | 2 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 2 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 2.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 12 | 16.0% |
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 Surf City mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 34 | 45.3% | |
| 2 | Cigarette | 6 | 8.0% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 5 | 6.7% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 4 | 5.3% | |
| 5 | Cigarette lighter | 4 | 5.3% | |
| 6 | Radiated heat from another fire | 4 | 5.3% | |
| 7 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 4.0% | |
| 9 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 2.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 8 | 10.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Surf City departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $500 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $100 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Surf City sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 106,515 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 | 9.8 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 24,600 | 40.1 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 21,331 | 46.4 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,400 | 38.8 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 2,727 | 6.8 mi | |
| 2009 | Natural | 2,660 | 41.2 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,084 | 37.5 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 1,577 | 46.9 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,533 | 11.5 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,327 | 40.0 mi | |
| 1994 | Natural | 1,300 | 27.3 mi | |
| 1993 | Natural | 1,216 | 11.8 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 Surf City. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Surf City.
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.