In 2025, fire departments serving Wallace responded to 64 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 75% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
379 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $358K cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 80 | — | |
| 2022 | 107 | +33.8% | |
| 2023 | 73 | -31.8% | |
| 2024 | 55 | -24.7% | |
| 2025 | 64 | +16.4% |
For the 26 building fires Wallace departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 222 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 | Outside area, other | 73 | 32.9% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 26 | 11.7% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 19 | 8.6% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 14 | 6.3% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 13 | 5.9% | |
| 6 | Wildland, woods | 9 | 4.1% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 8 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 6 | 2.7% | |
| 9 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 6 | 2.7% | |
| 10 | Wall surface: exterior | 5 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 43 | 19.4% |
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 Wallace mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 76 | 34.2% | |
| 2 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 26 | 11.7% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 25 | 11.3% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 24 | 10.8% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 14 | 6.3% | |
| 6 | Heat source: other | 13 | 5.9% | |
| 7 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 9 | 4.1% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 7 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 7 | 3.2% | |
| 10 | Cigarette lighter | 6 | 2.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 15 | 6.8% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Wallace sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 59,880 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 | 22.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 5,438 | 42.0 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 2,727 | 26.2 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,084 | 14.3 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,533 | 22.0 mi | |
| 1994 | Natural | 1,300 | 6.0 mi | |
| 1993 | Natural | 1,216 | 20.3 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,164 | 45.6 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,154 | 28.7 mi | |
| 2017 | Debris and open burning | 1,126 | 20.2 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,100 | 30.9 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 944 | 30.9 mi |
Top 3 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 Wallace. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
3 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Wallace.
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.