In 2025, fire departments serving Rockingham County responded to 1,374 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $500K property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Moderate.
Unauthorized burning lead by count. Top five categories make up about 50% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Dec dips.
6,874 incidents from 2021 through 2025.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 1,250 | |
| 2022 | 1,351 | |
| 2023 | 1,358 | |
| 2024 | 1,541 | |
| 2025 | 1,374 |
For the 124 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.
Largest single-incident property losses in Rockingham County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 66% of the county's total.
| # | Property loss | City | Type | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $500,000 | Hampton | Building fires | Major |
| 2 | $408,926 | Salem | Building fires | Major |
| 3 | $300,000 | PORTSMOUTH | Building fires | Major |
| 4 | $250,000 | RAYMOND | Building or structure weakened or collapsed | Major |
| 5 | $204,105 | Nottingham | Building fires | Significant |
| 6 | $200,000 | Salem | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant |
| 7 | $150,000 | Hampton | Building fires | Significant |
| 8 | $150,000 | PORTSMOUTH | Building fires | Significant |
| 9 | $124,175 | DERRY | Building fires | Significant |
| 10 | $119,925 | DERRY | Building fires | Significant |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.
12 cities mapped to FIPS 33015.
35 departments report from this county.
Top 5 fire perimeters by acres burned (state-scoped fallback while we build out per-county polygons).
| # | Name | Year | Agency | Acres |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Covered Bridge | 2016 | USFS | 329 |
| 2 | Moat K and L RX | 2023 | USFS | 76 |
| 3 | Dilly | 2017 | USFS | 72 |
| 4 | Moat Unit J RX | 2023 | USFS | 22 |
| 5 | Crooked River Causeway | 2019 | USFS | 11 |
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.