In 2025, fire departments serving Walkertown responded to 100 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $75K 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 60% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
512 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $1.2M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 128 | — | |
| 2022 | 109 | -14.8% | |
| 2023 | 74 | -32.1% | |
| 2024 | 101 | +36.5% | |
| 2025 | 100 | -1.0% |
For the 22 building fires Walkertown departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 116 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 | 31 | 26.7% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 13 | 11.2% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 12 | 10.3% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 8 | 6.9% | |
| 5 | Wildland, woods | 8 | 6.9% | |
| 6 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 7 | 6.0% | |
| 7 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 5 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 5 | 4.3% | |
| 9 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 3 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Wall surface: exterior | 3 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 21 | 18.1% |
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 Walkertown mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 28 | 24.1% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 12 | 10.3% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 10 | 8.6% | |
| 4 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 9 | 7.8% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 6 | 5.2% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 5 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 5 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Arcing | 4 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Cigarette lighter | 4 | 3.4% | |
| 10 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 4 | 3.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 29 | 25.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Walkertown departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 96% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $75,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $40,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $14,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $5,600 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $3,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Walkertown sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
6 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 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 1 | |
| 30-39 | 0 | |
| 40-49 | 1 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 9,135 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Natural | 3,696 | 39.0 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 737 | 47.6 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 730 | 48.6 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 675 | 21.8 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 484 | 45.4 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 363 | 17.7 mi | |
| 1996 | Equipment and vehicle use | 214 | 34.1 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 210 | 49.4 mi | |
| 2007 | Recreation and ceremony | 175 | 33.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 166 | 43.4 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 161 | 33.8 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 150 | 44.5 mi |
Top 4 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 Walkertown. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
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.