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2025 County Report

Fires in Harnett County, NC

In 2025, fire departments serving Harnett County responded to 1,069 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $250K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as High.

55,492 residents FIPS 37085 35 cities · 12 fire depts
Total incidents
1,069
6,852 across 5 years
Building fires
209
241 wildland
Property loss
$3.1M
$2.4M structure · $730K contents
Casualties
0 / 5
0 civ deaths · 1 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 51% of all calls.

1,069
Total Incidents
Building fires 209 19.6%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 98 9.2%
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire 92 8.6%
Grass fire 78 7.3%
Authorized controlled burning 68 6.4%
All other categories 524 49.0%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Harnett County?

Mar peaks. Nov dips.

Jan 133
Feb 126
Mar 186
Apr 119
May 91
Jun 86
Jul 99
Aug 45
Sep 37
Oct 52
Nov 33
Dec 62
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Harnett County

6,852 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 1,451
2022 1,623
2023 1,497
2024 1,212
2025 1,069
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 209 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
46%
120
Cause undetermined
16%
42
Intentional / arson
13%
33
Equipment / heat source failure
8%
20
Under investigation
8%
22
Act of nature (lightning)
9%
8
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $1.4M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Harnett County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 58% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $250,000 Erwin Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire Major
2 $249,272 COATS Building fires Significant
3 $150,000 Lillington Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence Significant
4 $150,000 Fuquay Varina Building fires Significant
5 $150,000 FUQUAY VARINA Building fires Significant
6 $100,000 Dunn Road freight or transport vehicle fire Significant
7 $100,000 Dunn Road freight or transport vehicle fire Significant
8 $90,000 Angier Building fires Significant
9 $80,000 Dunn Building fires Significant
10 $65,000 FuquayVarina Passenger vehicle fire Significant
06 How Harnett County compares

Harnett County vs NC vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

19.26
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Harnett County
19.26
NC avg
9.36
US avg
7.15
3.77
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Harnett County
3.77
NC avg
1.35
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Harnett County
0
NC avg
8.6
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Harnett County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 37085.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Harnett County

12 departments report from this county.

Summerville
Lillington
FDID 04313 148 incidents
Angier Black River Fire Dept
Angier
FDID 04302 127 incidents 5 paid 37 vol
Benhaven Emergency Services
Olivia
FDID 04316 103 incidents 2 paid 32 vol
Anderson Creek Emergency Servi
Spring Lake
FDID 04301 81 incidents 6 paid
Coats Grove Fire and Rescue
Coats
FDID 04305 79 incidents 3 paid 39 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.