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2025 County Report

Fires in Henderson County, NC

In 2025, fire departments serving Henderson County responded to 1,116 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $300K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Moderate.

71,013 residents FIPS 37089 60 cities · 4 fire depts
Total incidents
1,116
6,967 across 5 years
Building fires
167
71 wildland
Property loss
$862K
$714K structure · $148K contents
Casualties
1 / 1
1 civ deaths · 0 civ inj · 1 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Hazardous condition, other lead by count. Top five categories make up about 59% of all calls.

1,116
Total Incidents
Hazardous condition, other 179 16.0%
Building fires 167 15.0%
Power line down 118 10.6%
Vehicle accident, general cleanup 110 9.9%
Unauthorized burning 87 7.8%
All other categories 455 40.8%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Henderson County?

Mar peaks. Sep dips.

Jan 124
Feb 117
Mar 297
Apr 129
May 107
Jun 111
Jul 92
Aug 86
Sep 7
Oct 22
Nov 14
Dec 10
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Henderson County

6,967 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 1,550
2022 1,462
2023 1,485
2024 1,354
2025 1,116
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 167 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
42%
57
Cause undetermined
18%
25
Intentional / arson
10%
13
Equipment / heat source failure
16%
22
Under investigation
9%
12
Act of nature (lightning)
5%
6
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $700K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Henderson County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 98% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $300,000 HENDERSONVILLE Building fires Major
2 $150,000 Fletcher Building fires Significant
3 $100,000 HENDERSONVILLE Building fires Significant
4 $80,000 Flat Rock Building fires Significant
5 $35,000 Hendersonville Building or structure weakened or collapsed Significant
6 $10,000 Flat Rock Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire Significant
7 $10,000 Flat Rock Building fires Significant
8 $5,000 FLETCHER Fuel burner/boiler malfunction, fire confined Significant
9 $5,000 HENDERSONVILLE Building fires Significant
10 $5,000 HENDERSONVILLE Fire in portable building, fixed location Significant
06 How Henderson County compares

Henderson County vs NC vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

15.72
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Henderson County
15.72
NC avg
9.36
US avg
7.15
2.35
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Henderson County
2.35
NC avg
1.35
US avg
0.82
14.1
Civilian fire deaths per million
Henderson County
14.1
NC avg
8.6
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Henderson County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 37089.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Henderson County

4 departments report from this county.

Valley Hill Fire and Rescue De
Hendersonville
FDID 04512 169 incidents 15 paid 41 vol
Etowah Horseshoe VFRD
Horse Shoe
FDID 04505 151 incidents 2 paid 50 vol
Hendersonville Fire Department
Hendersonville
FDID 04508 129 incidents 20 paid 20 vol
Mills River Fire Department
Horse Shoe
FDID 04509 0 incidents 1 paid 50 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.