In 2025, fire departments serving Carter County responded to 432 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $100K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as High.
Building fires lead by count. Top five categories make up about 49% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Feb dips.
1,656 incidents from 2021 through 2025.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 313 | |
| 2022 | 325 | |
| 2023 | 288 | |
| 2024 | 298 | |
| 2025 | 432 |
For the 87 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.
Largest single-incident property losses in Carter County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 80% of the county's total.
| # | Property loss | City | Type | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Elizabethton | Building fires | Significant |
| 2 | $40,000 | WATAUGA | Building fires | Significant |
| 3 | $40,000 | Elizabethton | Building fires | Significant |
| 4 | $20,000 | ELIZABETHTON | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant |
| 5 | $15,000 | Elizabethton | Building fires | Significant |
| 6 | $10,000 | WATAUGA | Building fires | Significant |
| 7 | $10,000 | Elizabethton | Building fires | Significant |
| 8 | $10,000 | Elizabethton | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant |
| 9 | $10,000 | Watauga | Building fires | Significant |
| 10 | $9,500 | ELIZABETHTON | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Significant |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.
12 cities mapped to FIPS 47019.
8 departments report from this county.
Top 10 fire perimeters by acres burned (state-scoped fallback while we build out per-county polygons).
| # | Name | Year | Agency | Acres |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chimney Tops 2 | 2016 | NPS | 15,642 |
| 2 | SHARP | 2001 | NPS | 6,705 |
| 3 | Halls Top | 2016 | USFS | 2,462 |
| 4 | GREEN MTN | 2001 | NPS | 2,287 |
| 5 | DARROW RDG | 2000 | NPS | 2,265 |
| 6 | Stony Ridge | 2009 | NPS | 2,191 |
| 7 | LAUREL RDG | 1987 | NPS | 1,969 |
| 8 | Railroad Grade | 2016 | USFS | 1,746 |
| 9 | SHOP | 1988 | NPS | 1,303 |
| 10 | State Line | 2016 | USFS | 1,238 |
County-level NFIRS aggregates for 2025, plus 5-year totals across 2021–2025. NFIRS is voluntary — about 23,000 of roughly 30,000 US fire departments report — so totals are a strong indicator, not a complete census. Wildfire risk score (0–100) and Expected Annual Loss come from FEMA's National Risk Index. Drought class is the most recent USDM classification (D0 = abnormally dry through D4 = exceptional drought). Historical fire perimeters are sourced from the NIFC InterAgency Fire Perimeter History.