In 2025, fire departments serving Alton responded to 150 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Hazardous condition, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 53% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
602 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $1.2M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 92 | — | |
| 2022 | 103 | +12.0% | |
| 2023 | 90 | -12.6% | |
| 2024 | 167 | +85.6% | |
| 2025 | 150 | -10.2% |
For the 9 building fires Alton departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 93 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 15 | 16.1% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 13 | 14.0% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 11 | 11.8% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 9 | 9.7% | |
| 5 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 5 | 5.4% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 5 | 5.4% | |
| 7 | Wildland, woods | 5 | 5.4% | |
| 8 | Other | 3 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 3 | 3.2% | |
| 10 | Closet | 2 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 22 | 23.7% |
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 Alton mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 31 | 33.3% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 13 | 14.0% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 7 | 7.5% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 6 | 6.5% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 5 | 5.4% | |
| 6 | Lightning | 5 | 5.4% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 4 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 3 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 3 | 3.2% | |
| 10 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 14 | 15.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Alton departments in 2025. These 5 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $50,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $1 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Alton sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,816 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 329 | 35.5 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 314 | 29.9 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 275 | 20.3 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 139 | 40.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 92 | 15.5 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 72 | 46.5 mi | |
| 1995 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 | 46.1 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 59 | 26.2 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 54 | 36.5 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 8.9 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 42 | 44.1 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 41 | 16.8 mi |
Top 9 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six New Hampshire cities with population within ±25% of Alton. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Alton.
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.