In 2025, fire departments serving Wake County responded to 5,095 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $1.8M property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Moderate.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Top five categories make up about 45% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Dec dips.
27,915 incidents from 2021 through 2025.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 5,085 | |
| 2022 | 5,970 | |
| 2023 | 5,563 | |
| 2024 | 6,202 | |
| 2025 | 5,095 |
For the 500 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.
Largest single-incident property losses in Wake County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 30% of the county's total.
| # | Property loss | City | Type | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,847,003 | Apex | Building fires | Major |
| 2 | $750,000 | Garner | Building fires | Major |
| 3 | $650,000 | Holly Springs | Building fires | Major |
| 4 | $597,000 | Raleigh | Building fires | Major |
| 5 | $500,000 | Raleigh | Building fires | Major |
| 6 | $444,069 | RALEIGH | Building fires | Major |
| 7 | $426,000 | RALEIGH | Building fires | Major |
| 8 | $400,000 | Holly Springs | Building fires | Major |
| 9 | $400,000 | Garner | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Major |
| 10 | $352,528 | Rolesville | Building fires | Major |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.
12 cities mapped to FIPS 37183.
| City | Population | |
|---|---|---|
| Raleigh | 465,517 | View › |
| Cary | 174,880 | View › |
| Apex | 65,541 | View › |
| Wake Forest | 48,047 | View › |
| Holly Springs | 42,023 | View › |
| Fuquay-Varina | 35,428 | View › |
| Garner | 31,684 | View › |
| Morrisville | 29,756 | View › |
| Knightdale | 19,127 | View › |
| Wendell | 10,575 | View › |
| Rolesville | 9,696 | View › |
| Zebulon | 7,421 | View › |
14 departments report from this county.
Top 10 fire perimeters by acres burned (state-scoped fallback while we build out per-county polygons).
| # | Name | Year | Agency | Acres |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
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.