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2025 County Report

Fires in Jackson County, NC

In 2025, fire departments serving Jackson County responded to 40 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $150K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Moderate.

11,249 residents FIPS 37099 39 cities · 0 fire depts
Total incidents
40
1,699 across 5 years
Building fires
16
2 wildland
Property loss
$275K
$253K structure · $22K contents
Casualties
0 / 2
0 civ deaths · 2 civ inj · 0 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Building fires lead by count. Top five categories make up about 68% of all calls.

40
Total Incidents
Building fires 16 40.0%
Power line down 5 12.5%
Trash or rubbish fire, contained 2 5.0%
Camper or recreational vehicle (RV) fire 2 5.0%
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) 2 5.0%
All other categories 13 32.5%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Jackson County?

Mar peaks. Aug dips.

Jan 7
Feb 5
Mar 12
Apr 5
May 3
Jun 5
Jul 3
Aug 0
Sep 0
Oct 0
Nov 0
Dec 0
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Jackson County

1,699 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 485
2022 376
2023 367
2024 431
2025 40
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 16 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
20%
1
Cause undetermined
20%
1
Intentional / arson
0%
0
Equipment / heat source failure
20%
1
Under investigation
40%
2
Act of nature (lightning)
0%
0
05 The biggest fires

4 fires · $253K in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Jackson County during 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $150,000 WHITTIER Building fires Significant
2 $100,000 WHITTIER Building fires Significant
3 $2,000 WHITTIER Building fires Significant
4 $1,000 Whittier Passenger vehicle fire Significant
06 How Jackson County compares

Jackson County vs NC vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

3.56
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Jackson County
3.56
NC avg
9.36
US avg
7.15
1.42
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Jackson County
1.42
NC avg
1.35
US avg
0.82
0
Civilian fire deaths per million
Jackson County
0
NC avg
8.6
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Jackson County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 37099.

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.