In 2025, fire departments serving Woodlawn responded to 28 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Forest, woods or wildland fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 78% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Jul dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
144 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 4 | — | |
| 2022 | 71 | — | |
| 2023 | 32 | -54.9% | |
| 2024* | 9 | — | |
| 2025 | 28 | — |
* Well below Woodlawn'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 1 building fires Woodlawn departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 42 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 | 14 | 33.3% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 7 | 16.7% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 7 | 16.7% | |
| 4 | Other | 3 | 7.1% | |
| 5 | Exterior, exposed surface | 2 | 4.8% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 2 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Wildland, woods | 2 | 4.8% | |
| 8 | Entrance way, lobby | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Duct: hvac, cable, exhaust, heating, or AC | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 2 | 4.8% |
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 Woodlawn mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 22 | 52.4% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 4 | 9.5% | |
| 3 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 3 | 7.1% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 2 | 4.8% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 4.8% | |
| 6 | Match | 2 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Cigarette lighter | 2 | 4.8% | |
| 8 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 10 | Molten, hot material | 1 | 2.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 2 | 4.8% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Woodlawn sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 6,297 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,778 | 47.1 mi | |
| 1995 | Equipment and vehicle use | 500 | 32.9 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 456 | 37.2 mi | |
| 2018 | Recreation and ceremony | 339 | 39.3 mi | |
| 1996 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 330 | 49.1 mi | |
| 2009 | Arson/incendiarism | 300 | 40.0 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 289 | 7.1 mi | |
| 2001 | Debris and open burning | 254 | 46.9 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 250 | 45.6 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 216 | 43.3 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 180 | 49.7 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 161 | 30.3 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 | 28752 | 144 |
Six North Carolina cities with population within ±25% of Woodlawn. 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.