A young data analyst helps Charlotte Fire solve the puzzle

Published on July 08, 2026

Kyle Hampton with Battalion Chief Juan Pablo Soto of Charlotte Fire’s Research and Strategic Planning Division.

 

By Kevin Campbell, Charlotte Fire  

At 19 years old, Kyle Hampton has already found his place in public service. 

It does not look like the path most people imagine when they think about Charlotte Fire. Hampton is not beginning his career by climbing onto an engine, pulling on turnout gear or forcing open a door during training. 

His work starts with a laptop, lines of code, maps of a growing city and questions that do not always have easy answers. 

To Hampton, that is the best part. 

“I always say it’s a puzzle,” Hampton said. “We get our problem or project request, and it’ll be pretty broad. So now we’ve got to figure out what questions to build off that one question.” 

That curiosity is helping carry Hampton into the next chapter of his life. Through the city of Charlotte’s Education 2 Employment program, he is moving from student and intern to a full-time opportunity in municipal government. 

The program gives recent Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools graduates a pathway to begin their careers immediately after graduation within local municipal government. For Hampton, it is more than a program. It is a chance to take what he has been learning and use it in service to the city. 

Kyle Hampton signs his Education 2 Employment paperwork with the city of Charlotte. 

Hampton is being officially hired by the city of Charlotte’s Innovation & Technology Department. The department provides executive-level leadership for the city’s technology governance policy, delivers technology services to city departments and partner agencies, and coordinates technology initiatives across the organization to support, enhance and advance citizen service delivery. 

Through that role, Hampton will continue supporting Charlotte Fire’s Research and Strategic Planning Division, where he has already spent the past year helping turn data into tools that support planning, public safety and service delivery. 

For Hampton, the opportunity is bigger than a job. 

It is a door opening. 

“It’s problem solving, and I get to build,” Hampton said. “There’s not one way you can solve it.” 

Kyle Hampton is joined by family, city leaders and Charlotte Fire members on signing day. 

Hampton’s path into city government began in 2024, when he was 17 and attending Charlotte Engineering Early College at UNC Charlotte. Through the Mayor’s Youth Employment Program, he spent the summer working with CMPD’s Community Services Division, helping with projects that included National Night Out. 

The following summer, in 2025, he came to Charlotte Fire. He started in finance before a tour introduced him to the Research and Strategic Planning Division. 

Something fit. 

“My skills kind of mixed a little bit more with them,” Hampton said. 

Hampton had already been drawn to technology. At Charlotte Engineering Early College, he first focused on electrical engineering before taking coding classes in Python and Java. His brother, who studied management information systems, encouraged him to explore programming. 

Hampton began to see a future there. 

“I was big on finance and technology,” Hampton said. “Those were my two biggest things.” 

As he moved further into college coursework, data science became the direction that made the most sense. After taking database design and implementation, and after working with data at Charlotte Fire, Hampton said the path became clearer. 

“I was already here, too, working with data at the fire department,” Hampton said. “I was like, yeah, I think data science is going to be my way to go.” 

Kyle Hampton smiles after signing with the city of Charlotte’s Education 2 Employment program. 

Hampton is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in data science at UNC Charlotte with a minor in artificial intelligence. Through the early college program, he has already completed about 72% of his degree. He is also pursuing a project management certificate and is considering a master’s degree in data science and business analytics. 

At Charlotte Fire, those goals are no longer just academic. Hampton’s work connects directly to public safety. 

He helps analyze response times, travel times, call volume, firehouse coverage and apparatus movement. He works with tools including Python, SQL, ArcGIS and Excel to take complex information and make it easier to understand. 

“For us specifically, it would be better response times, better staffing for different stations and how we can do this more efficiently,” Hampton said. “Where are there gaps in our city? Where do we need more stations?” 

Kyle Hampton meets with Charlotte Fire’s Research and Strategic Planning Division. 

One of Hampton’s largest projects has been the Response Analysis Model, known as RAM. The model uses historical response data and vehicle location data to help show how fire apparatus move throughout Charlotte. 

The work is technical, but the purpose is deeply human. 

Every data point connects back to a firehouse, a firefighter, a neighborhood, a family and a person waiting for help. 

The model helps Charlotte Fire look at coverage based on actual historical performance, not assumptions. Hampton said the data can show how long it takes apparatus to travel from a firehouse to a call, how response patterns change when units are already on the road and where coverage may need to be studied as the city continues to grow.

“Charlotte changes every day,” Hampton said. 

For Hampton, the value of the work is in making complicated information clear. That is where mapping becomes important. GIS, or geographic information systems, allows the team to turn data into visual tools that show patterns that may not be obvious in a spreadsheet. 

“What I basically built was a way to analyze this data all in one place visually,” Hampton said. 

Kyle Hampton stands inside Charlotte Fire headquarters. 

Those visual tools can help identify firehouse coverage areas, study call volume, evaluate engine and ladder coverage and support long-term planning. 

The division also supports grant applications, community meetings and research projects. Hampton said that can include pulling call volume for a neighborhood, analyzing response times for a specific area or providing data for projects focused on firefighter health and wellness. 

The work can be tedious. It can be complicated. And it often begins with information that needs to be cleaned before it can be trusted. 

“When you’re working with data, data is not always clean,” Hampton said. 

That means Hampton may have to test methods, write code, adjust his approach and try again. A request that seems simple can require several layers of follow-up before the final answer is ready. 

That challenge is part of what he loves. 

“It’s like I’m getting handed a different puzzle board every time,” Hampton said. 

For Battalion Chief Juan Pablo Soto, Hampton’s age is not what stands out most. It is his maturity, his character and his willingness to keep learning. 

“Kyle came to us to learn, but he’s already making a real impact,” Soto said. “His work ethic and dedication have earned the respect of our entire team.” 

Soto said Hampton represents the kind of young talent that can help shape the future of Charlotte Fire and the city. 

“Talent opens doors, but character creates opportunities,” Soto said. “Kyle has both, and we’re fortunate to have him on our team.”

Hampton’s time with Charlotte Fire has not been limited to the office. He has also gone on ride-alongs, giving him a closer look at what firefighters do once the tones go off and companies leave the firehouse. 

That experience changed the way he sees the numbers. 

“I’ve had a lot of fun, especially working with fire,” Hampton said. “Not only do I get to do the stuff in the office, but we get to go on ride-alongs and actually see what they’re doing on the operations side.” 

Kyle Hampton stands near the historic Neptune fire pumper at Charlotte Fire headquarters. 

The ride-alongs helped Hampton connect the data to the people behind it. Response times are not just numbers in a report. They represent firefighters moving through traffic, navigating neighborhoods, arriving on scene and serving people during emergencies. 

“To see how operations actually work, what they have to do in order to meet that total response time, it’s really amazing to see,” Hampton said. “It helps us a lot when we’re on the backside in the office doing our data pulls and our data cleaning.” 

Fire Chief Reginald Johnson said Hampton’s story shows what can happen when young people are given meaningful opportunities to serve.

“Kyle represents what happens when preparation, opportunity and public service come together,” Johnson said. “The Education 2 Employment program gives young people a meaningful pathway into city government, and it gives Charlotte Fire a chance to invest in talented people who already care about this community. Kyle is helping us think differently, work smarter and prepare for the future of emergency services in Charlotte.” 

Kyle Hampton stands with Charlotte Fire Chief Reginald Johnson after his signing. 

For Hampton, the people around him have made the experience even more meaningful. He described Charlotte Fire as tightknit and said the planning team has given him space to learn, ask questions and contribute. 

“I really do like my team,” Hampton said. “We’re all really close, and I like that we’re able to work with each other and bounce ideas off each other.” 

In programming and analytics, Hampton said, there are often many ways to solve the same problem. Someone else may see a cleaner way, a faster way or a different path to the answer. 

That collaboration has helped him grow. 

It has also helped him see public service differently. Hampton may not be entering Charlotte Fire through a traditional route, but his work supports the same mission. Every map, model and data request connects back to a larger question: How can Charlotte Fire better serve the people of Charlotte?

Kyle Hampton is using data science and mapping to support Charlotte Fire’s planning work. 

At an age when many young people are still trying to decide what comes next, Hampton is already stepping into a role that blends his skills with service to the city where his career began. 

The Mayor’s Youth Employment Program introduced him to city government. The Education 2 Employment program opened the next door. Innovation & Technology is making the hire. Charlotte Fire gave him a place to grow. 

Now Hampton is bringing his talent, curiosity and character to work that matters.

A question. A dataset. A map. A model. A new way to understand the city. 

For Hampton, every project is another puzzle. 

And at 19, he is just getting started.