In 2025, fire departments serving Adams responded to 30 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $65K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Incomplete 2025 data. Adams's departments reported 30 incidents to NFIRS for 2025, against about 62 in a typical year, so 2025 figures on this page undercount. The 2021–2025 totals are the better guide.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 63% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
312 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $258K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 75 | — | |
| 2022 | 43 | -42.7% | |
| 2023 | 67 | +55.8% | |
| 2024 | 97 | +44.8% | |
| 2025* | 30 | — |
* Well below Adams's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.
For the 9 building fires Adams departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 8 building fires investigators classified across 2021–2025. The room or location where ignition occurred — kitchens, bedrooms, exterior, vehicle areas — tells you where to focus prevention.
| # | Area of origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Other | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 3 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 5 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 6 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 7 | Wildland, woods | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 8 | Undetermined | 1 | 12.5% |
NFIRS Heat Source (HEAT_SOURC) — the physical thing that started it. Spark or ember from operating equipment, an open flame, smoking materials, or hot embers from a fireplace are the leading culprits nationwide. Here's the Adams mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 3 | 37.5% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 5 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 6 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 1 | 12.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Adams departments in 2025. These 5 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $65,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $10,000 | Vehicle accident, general cleanup | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $10,000 | Vehicle accident, general cleanup | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $5,000 | Vehicle accident, general cleanup | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $5,000 | Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Adams sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 19 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 621 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Smoking | 75 | 2.4 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 68 | 48.2 mi | |
| 2001 | Debris and open burning | 66 | 45.0 mi | |
| 2007 | Natural | 65 | 49.5 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 | 18.3 mi | |
| 2016 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 39 | 41.5 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 35 | 43.0 mi | |
| 2008 | Smoking | 30 | 32.1 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 30 | 8.9 mi | |
| 2002 | Equipment and vehicle use | 23 | 37.7 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 21 | 42.0 mi | |
| 1992 | Smoking | 21 | 49.2 mi |
Top 3 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six New York cities with population within ±25% of Adams. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Adams.
A 30-minute weekend can cut your home's exposure substantially. These four checklists are a good starting point.
Numbers reflect incidents reported by participating fire departments to the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) Public Data Release for calendar year 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. Per-capita comparisons use 2023 ACS population estimates. Wildland fire data complements NFIRS with NIFC and USFS perimeters. Active-fire counts come from a dated NIFC snapshot, not a live feed.