The Raleigh Fire Department uses fire statistics to guide our efforts to keep Raleigh safe. The department covers 145 square miles of territory and fire statistics can show geographical areas that have a specific public safety need.
Fire Incident Reports for the Third Quarter 2022
In the third quarter, the number of fires decreased to 283 compared to 310 in Q2. The two most common causes of fire remained the same: unattended cooking and improperly discarded smoking materials. The number of cooking fires per quarter increased to 55 from 46 in Q2. Also, the percentage of cooking fires of all fires increased to 57 percent (from 41 percent).
“This is a trend that we normally see in the fall as people are cooking indoors more often due to the changing weather, and also as we get closer to the holidays,” says Capt. James Pearce. “I would expect to see a rise in cooking fires consistently through the end of the year. As always, it’s important to remember that ‘if you can’t look, don’t cook!’”
Improperly discarded smoking materials continued to be the second-leading cause of fire incidents, although the numbers of incidents were down (there were five fires caused by smoking materials in Q3, compared to 10 fires in Q2). The number of fires extinguished by a sprinkler system doubled to 14 from seven fires in the second quarter. The dollar value of losses due to fire decreased to $3.9 million from $4.2 million during the previous quarter.
The number of EMS responses increased to 8,293 from 8,189 in Q2.
Check out the fire heat map for fires in buildings in the third quarter.
| Quarter 3 2022 |
|
| All Fires (All fire responses including brush fires, vehicle fires, dumpster fires, etc., along with residential and commercial property fires) |
283 |
| Cooking | 55 fires (57 percent of fires in buildings) |
| Smoking Materials | 5 fires (five percent of fires in buildings) |
| Approximate Dollar Loss Due To Fire | $3.9 million |
| Fire Extinguished by Sprinkler System | 14 fires extinguished by sprinkler systems. |
| Fire Department EMS Responses | 8,293 (60 percent of all responses) |