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2025 County Report

Fires in Moore County, NC

In 2025, fire departments serving Moore County responded to 1,124 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $340K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Very High.

61,372 residents FIPS 37125 41 cities · 16 fire depts
Total incidents
1,124
6,717 across 5 years
Building fires
171
229 wildland
Property loss
$3.4M
$2.6M structure · $820K contents
Casualties
1 / 2
1 civ deaths · 1 civ inj · 1 FF inj
01 The mix

What kinds of fires happen here?

Building fires lead by count. Top five categories make up about 47% of all calls.

1,124
Total Incidents
Building fires 171 15.2%
Cooking fire, confined to container 102 9.1%
Authorized controlled burning 89 7.9%
Forest, woods or wildland fire 83 7.4%
Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other 83 7.4%
All other categories 596 53.0%
02 Seasonality

When do fires happen in Moore County?

Mar peaks. Sep dips.

Jan 174
Feb 154
Mar 284
Apr 141
May 129
Jun 125
Jul 15
Aug 20
Sep 4
Oct 24
Nov 21
Dec 33
03 Five-year trend

Year over year in Moore County

6,717 incidents from 2021 through 2025.

YearIncidents 
2021 785
2022 2,043
2023 1,427
2024 1,338
2025 1,124
04 Cause of ignition

What sparks building fires?

For the 171 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.

Unintentional
45%
107
Cause undetermined
20%
48
Intentional / arson
8%
19
Equipment / heat source failure
5%
11
Under investigation
17%
41
Act of nature (lightning)
5%
8
05 The biggest fires

10 fires · $1.7M in losses

Largest single-incident property losses in Moore County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 65% of the county's total.

#Property lossCityTypeSeverity
1 $340,200 ABERDEEN Building fires Major
2 $300,000 CAMERON Building fires Major
3 $200,000 Cameron Building fires Significant
4 $200,000 PINEHURST Building fires Significant
5 $150,000 Southern Pines Building fires Significant
6 $130,000 ROBBINS Building fires Significant
7 $100,000 WHISPERING PINES Building fires Significant
8 $100,000 WHISPERING PINES Building fires Significant
9 $90,000 CAMERON Building fires Significant
10 $85,000 SOUTHERN PINES Passenger vehicle fire Significant
06 How Moore County compares

Moore County vs NC vs the nation

Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.

18.31
Incidents per 1,000 residents
Moore County
18.31
NC avg
9.36
US avg
7.15
2.79
Building fires per 1,000 residents
Moore County
2.79
NC avg
1.35
US avg
0.82
16.3
Civilian fire deaths per million
Moore County
16.3
NC avg
8.6
US avg
5.8
07 Cities in this county

Largest cities in Moore County

12 cities mapped to FIPS 37125.

08 First responders

Busiest fire departments in Moore County

16 departments report from this county.

Southern Pines
Southern Pines
FDID 06381 240 incidents 23 paid 2 vol
Aberdeen Fire Rescue Departmen
Aberdeen
FDID 06341 146 incidents 22 paid
Pinehurst Fire Department Main
Pinehurst
FDID 06391 118 incidents 30 paid
Carthage Fire Department
Carthage
FDID 06331 80 incidents 3 paid
Cypress Pointe Fire and Rescue
Vass
FDID 06321 76 incidents 2 paid 42 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.