In 2025, fire departments serving Watauga County responded to 323 fire and hazmat incidents — including a single $1.6M property loss. FEMA NRI rates wildfire risk here as Moderate.
Authorized controlled burning lead by count. Top five categories make up about 49% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Nov dips.
1,983 incidents from 2021 through 2025.
| Year | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 419 | |
| 2022 | 428 | |
| 2023 | 449 | |
| 2024 | 364 | |
| 2025 | 323 |
For the 31 building fires departments responded to in 2025, here's how investigators classified them.
Largest single-incident property losses in Watauga County during 2025. These 10 fires alone account for 99% of the county's total.
| # | Property loss | City | Type | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,600,000 | BOONE | Building fires | Major |
| 2 | $1,000,000 | Beech Mountain | Building fires | Major |
| 3 | $100,000 | BOONE | Building fires | Significant |
| 4 | $100,000 | Zionville | Building fires | Significant |
| 5 | $50,000 | Beech Mountain | Building fires | Significant |
| 6 | $40,000 | Sugar Grove | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant |
| 7 | $20,000 | DEEP GAP | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant |
| 8 | $18,995 | BOONE | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant |
| 9 | $10,000 | BOONE | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant |
| 10 | $8,000 | BOONE | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples.
12 cities mapped to FIPS 37189.
| City | Population | |
|---|---|---|
| Boone | 19,368 | View › |
| Foscoe | 1,411 | View › |
| Cove Creek | 1,354 | View › |
| Blowing Rock | 900 | View › |
| Beech Mountain | 798 | View › |
| Seven Devils | 422 | View › |
| Valle Crucis | 137 | View › |
| Forest Grove | 0 | View › |
| Silverstone | 0 | View › |
| Soda Hill | 0 | View › |
| Pottertown | 0 | View › |
| Aho | 0 | View › |
2 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.