In 2025, fire departments serving Taylorsville responded to 71 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $140K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Attempted burning, illegal action, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 87% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
411 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $1.9M cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 26 | — | |
| 2022 | 102 | — | |
| 2023 | 103 | +1.0% | |
| 2024 | 109 | +5.8% | |
| 2025 | 71 | -34.9% |
* Well below Taylorsville'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 12 building fires Taylorsville departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 95 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 | 61 | 64.2% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 4.2% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 4 | 4.2% | |
| 4 | Other | 3 | 3.2% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 3.2% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 3 | 3.2% | |
| 7 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 2.1% | |
| 8 | Wall surface: exterior | 2 | 2.1% | |
| 9 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Exterior stairway, ramp, or fire escape | 1 | 1.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 10 | 10.5% |
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 Taylorsville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 68 | 71.6% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 6 | 6.3% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 3 | 3.2% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 3.2% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 3 | 3.2% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 2.1% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 2.1% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 2.1% | |
| 9 | Cigarette lighter | 2 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 2 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 2 | 2.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Taylorsville departments in 2025. These 6 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $139,832 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $40,348 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $10,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $5,000 | Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Taylorsville sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 47,549 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Recreation and ceremony | 10,120 | 41.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 6,431 | 33.2 mi | |
| 2017 | Natural | 5,500 | 41.3 mi | |
| 2007 | Natural | 5,015 | 40.4 mi | |
| 2013 | Recreation and ceremony | 2,579 | 39.8 mi | |
| 2007 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 2,404 | 42.5 mi | |
| 2008 | Other causes | 2,005 | 42.3 mi | |
| 2017 | Debris and open burning | 1,760 | 46.5 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,450 | 27.4 mi | |
| 2015 | Natural | 1,268 | 46.5 mi | |
| 2007 | Natural | 820 | 44.5 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 800 | 24.0 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 28681 | 411 |
Six North Carolina cities with population within ±25% of Taylorsville. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
5 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Taylorsville.
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.