In 2025, fire departments serving Chatham County responded to 70 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $15K property loss.
Building fires lead by count. Top five categories make up about 67% of all calls.
Feb peaks. Jun dips.
798 incidents from 2021 through 2025.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 97 | |
| 2022 | 79 | |
| 2023 | 350 | |
| 2024 | 202 | |
| 2025 | 70 |
For the 19 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.
Largest single-incident property losses in Chatham County during 2025. These 7 fires alone account for 100% of the county's total.
| # | Property loss | City | Type | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $15,000 | SILER CITY | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant |
| 2 | $8,000 | MEBANE | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant |
| 3 | $5,000 | SILER CITY | Building fires | Significant |
| 4 | $3,000 | PITTSBORO | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant |
| 5 | $3,000 | PITTSBORO | Building fires | Significant |
| 6 | $2,000 | SILER CITY | Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle | Significant |
| 7 | $500 | PITTSBORO | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.
12 cities mapped to FIPS 37037.
| City | Population | |
|---|---|---|
| Siler City | 7,847 | View › |
| Briar Chapel | 5,332 | View › |
| Pittsboro | 4,555 | View › |
| Fearrington Village | 2,582 | View › |
| Governors Village | 2,014 | View › |
| Governors Club | 1,856 | View › |
| Moncure | 775 | View › |
| Carolina Meadows | 576 | View › |
| Goldston | 375 | View › |
| Bennett | 228 | View › |
| Gulf | 178 | View › |
| Mount Vernon Springs | 0 | View › |
Top 10 fire perimeters by acres burned (state-scoped fallback while we build out per-county polygons).
| # | Name | Year | Agency | Acres |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GREAT LAKES | 2023 | USFS | 32,155 |
| 2 | Whipping Creek Road | 2016 | PRI | 15,456 |
| 3 | COLLETT RIDGE | 2023 | USFS | 5,506 |
| 4 | St Mary's | 2008 | NPS | 4,565 |
| 5 | Carolina Bay | 2009 | USFS | 2,659 |
| 6 | Big Ditch | 2021 | FWS | 1,486 |
| 7 | HANCOCK CREEK | 2022 | USFS | 1,177 |
| 8 | BUCK MTN | 2002 | NPS | 1,124 |
| 9 | NCMCR-FY19-RX-1.1.2.b | 2019 | FWS | 1,080 |
| 10 | VAF220152 | 2022 | NPS | 1,079 |
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.