The Fire Marshall’s Office of the Raleigh Fire Department closely monitors fire statistics. That’s because statistics allow the department to focus its efforts on geographical areas that may have a specific public safety need. Stats also help RFD keep track of resources needed to mitigate hazards.
The number of fires stayed steady during the second quarter of this year: 332, compared to 333 in the first quarter.
Smoking Fires Continue to Trend Up
Fires related to the leading cause – unattended cooking – continued to decrease. There were 46 fires compared to the first quarter’s 48 fires. (The last quarter of 2023 saw 62 cooking fires.)
However, fires associated with inappropriately discarded smoking materials (the second leading cause of fires in Raleigh) increased by 50 percent to 15 (from 10 fires). “This can be most attributed to the dry conditions we experienced this past spring,” says Capt. James Pearce. “These fires, in turn, lead to property damage of nearby buildings through fire spread.”
The number of emergency medical services calls that the Raleigh Fire Department responded to increased. RFD responded to 8,856 calls, compared to 8,558 EMS calls during the second quarter. Sixty-two percent of all RFD responses were medical calls.
Financial losses stemming from fires decreased to $4.5 million from $4.7 million in the first quarter.
| 2024 Quarter 2 Statistics | |
|---|---|
| All Fires (All fire responses including brush fires, vehicle fires, dumpster fires, etc., along with residential and commercial property fires) | 332 |
| -Residential Fires | 75 |
| -Commercial Fires | 28 |
| -Cooking Fires | 46 (45 percent of fires in buildings) |
| -Smoking Materials Fires | 15 (15 percent of fires in buildings) |
| Approximate Dollar Loss Due to Fire | $4.5 million |
| Fires Extinguised by a Sprinkler System | 8 |
| Fire Department EMS Responses | 8,856 (62 percent of all responses) |
