In 2025, fire departments serving Apalachin responded to 15 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 87% of all calls.
Oct peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
120 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $462K cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 30 | — | |
| 2022 | 27 | -10.0% | |
| 2023 | 40 | +48.1% | |
| 2024* | 8 | — | |
| 2025 | 15 | — |
* Well below Apalachin'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 2 building fires Apalachin departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 34 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 | 10 | 29.4% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 8.8% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 3 | 8.8% | |
| 4 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 5.9% | |
| 5 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 2 | 5.9% | |
| 6 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 7 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Service facilities, other | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Equipment or service area, other | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Heating room or area, water heater area | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 9 | 26.5% |
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 Apalachin mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 9 | 26.5% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 8 | 23.5% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 3 | 8.8% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 5.9% | |
| 5 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 5.9% | |
| 6 | Cigarette | 2 | 5.9% | |
| 7 | Multiple heat sources including multiple ignitions | 2 | 5.9% | |
| 8 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 3 | 8.8% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Apalachin sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,270 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Arson/incendiarism | 136 | 48.2 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 102 | 39.9 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 85 | 17.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 75 | 47.9 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 73 | 47.0 mi | |
| 1997 | Debris and open burning | 60 | 25.5 mi | |
| 2015 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 53 | 15.3 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 52 | 44.5 mi | |
| 1994 | Debris and open burning | 50 | 23.9 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 49 | 31.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Arson/incendiarism | 43 | 47.7 mi | |
| 2002 | Debris and open burning | 40 | 41.7 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 13732 | 120 |
Six New York cities with population within ±25% of Apalachin. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Apalachin.
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.