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2025 County Report

Fires in Guilford County, NC

In 2025, fire departments serving Guilford County responded to 2,929 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $20.0M property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Moderate.

459,521 residents FIPS 37081 44 cities · 15 fire depts
Total incidents
2,929
15,903 across 5 years
Building fires
422
298 wildland
Property loss
$78.1M
$46.2M structure · $31.9M contents
Casualties
3 / 13
3 civ deaths · 9 civ inj · 4 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Building fires lead by count. Top five categories make up about 46% of all calls.

2,929
Total Incidents
Building fires 422 14.4%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 294 10.0%
Power line down 285 9.7%
Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other 180 6.1%
Passenger vehicle fire 175 6.0%
All other categories 1,573 53.7%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Guilford County?

Apr peaks. Sep dips.

Jan 396
Feb 354
Mar 397
Apr 403
May 342
Jun 383
Jul 361
Aug 293
Sep 0
Oct 0
Nov 0
Dec 0
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Guilford County

15,903 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 2,653
2022 4,225
2023 2,334
2024 3,762
2025 2,929
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 422 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
51%
434
Cause undetermined
12%
102
Intentional / arson
13%
112
Equipment / heat source failure
13%
108
Under investigation
6%
47
Act of nature (lightning)
5%
23
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $41.8M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Guilford County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 90% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $20,000,000 OAK RIDGE Building fires Catastrophic
2 $20,000,000 OAK RIDGE Building fires Catastrophic
3 $300,000 High Point Building fires Major
4 $250,000 GIBSONVILLE Building fires Major
5 $250,000 GIBSONVILLE Building fires Major
6 $225,500 High Point Building fires Significant
7 $200,000 High Point Building fires Significant
8 $200,000 COLFAX Building fires Significant
9 $200,000 BROWNS SUMMIT Building fires Significant
10 $150,000 GREENSBORO Building fires Significant
06 How Guilford County compares

Guilford County vs NC vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

6.37
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Guilford County
6.37
NC avg
9.36
US avg
7.15
0.92
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Guilford County
0.92
NC avg
1.35
US avg
0.82
6.5
Civilian fire deaths per million
Guilford County
6.5
NC avg
8.6
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Guilford County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 37081.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Guilford County

15 departments report from this county.

Greensboro Fire Dept
Greensboro
FDID 04110 1,256 incidents 568 paid
Station 24
GREENSBORO
FDID 04119 189 incidents 34 paid 58 vol
Summerfield Fire Dist
Summerfield
FDID 04123 105 incidents 23 paid
Station 54
GREENSBORO
FDID 04101 95 incidents 10 paid 45 vol
Station 31
Whitsett
FDID 04126 84 incidents 6 paid 33 vol
09 Historical wildfires

Largest fires recorded in NC

Top 10 fire perimeters by acres burned (state-scoped fallback while we build out per-county polygons).

#NameYearAgencyAcres
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

About this data

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.