In 2025, fire departments serving Surry responded to 19 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $500K 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 84% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
77 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $1.1M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 16 | — | |
| 2022 | 10 | -37.5% | |
| 2023 | 18 | +80.0% | |
| 2024 | 14 | -22.2% | |
| 2025 | 19 | +35.7% |
For the 6 building fires Surry departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 10 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 20.0% | |
| 2 | Egress/exit, other | 1 | 10.0% | |
| 3 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 10.0% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 10.0% | |
| 5 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 10.0% | |
| 6 | Fuel tank, fuel line | 1 | 10.0% | |
| 7 | Wildland, woods | 1 | 10.0% | |
| 8 | Vacant structural area | 1 | 10.0% | |
| 9 | Undetermined | 1 | 10.0% |
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 Surry mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arcing | 2 | 20.0% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 20.0% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 10.0% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 10.0% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 10.0% | |
| 6 | Candle | 1 | 10.0% | |
| 7 | Lightning | 1 | 10.0% | |
| 8 | Undetermined | 1 | 10.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Surry departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $500,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $381,855 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Surry sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
5 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 | 1 | |
| 20-29 | 1 | |
| 30-39 | 0 | |
| 40-49 | 0 | |
| 50-59 | 1 | |
| 60-69 | 2 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,934 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 272 | 46.5 mi | |
| 1992 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 270 | 36.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 49.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 190 | 13.1 mi | |
| 2015 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 137 | 48.7 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 120 | 29.5 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 92 | 49.2 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 | 39.1 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 59 | 38.9 mi | |
| 2020 | Natural | 55 | 38.9 mi | |
| 2015 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 47 | 20.9 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 46 | 29.8 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 New Hampshire cities with population within ±25% of Surry. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Surry.
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.