In 2025, fire departments serving Zebulon responded to 243 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $250K 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 52% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,383 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $3.7M cumulative property loss. 3 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 245 | — | |
| 2022 | 299 | +22.0% | |
| 2023 | 270 | -9.7% | |
| 2024 | 326 | +20.7% | |
| 2025 | 243 | -25.5% |
For the 52 building fires Zebulon departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 531 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 | 124 | 23.4% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 69 | 13.0% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 56 | 10.5% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 45 | 8.5% | |
| 5 | Wildland, woods | 43 | 8.1% | |
| 6 | Undetermined | 37 | 7.0% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 20 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 11 | 2.1% | |
| 9 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 11 | 2.1% | |
| 10 | Storage area, other | 9 | 1.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 106 | 20.0% |
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 Zebulon mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 191 | 36.0% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 54 | 10.2% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 42 | 7.9% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 37 | 7.0% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 34 | 6.4% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 26 | 4.9% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 22 | 4.1% | |
| 8 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 19 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 16 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Cigarette lighter | 15 | 2.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 75 | 14.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Zebulon departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 73% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $175,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $110,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $100,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $70,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Zebulon sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
10 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 | 2 | |
| 30-39 | 2 | |
| 40-49 | 2 | |
| 50-59 | 1 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 1 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 11,074 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,030 | 34.5 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,012 | 34.5 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,778 | 23.6 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 456 | 48.0 mi | |
| 2018 | Recreation and ceremony | 339 | 40.5 mi | |
| 2009 | Arson/incendiarism | 300 | 39.9 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 47.5 mi | |
| 2000 | Equipment and vehicle use | 300 | 45.1 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 274 | 21.7 mi | |
| 2010 | Smoking | 274 | 48.0 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 257 | 21.7 mi | |
| 2001 | Debris and open burning | 254 | 21.0 mi |
Top 10 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 Zebulon. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Zebulon.
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.