In 2025, fire departments serving Ballston Spa responded to 61 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 59% of all calls.
Oct peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
338 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $10K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 52 | — | |
| 2022 | 96 | +84.6% | |
| 2023 | 78 | -18.8% | |
| 2024 | 51 | -34.6% | |
| 2025 | 61 | +19.6% |
For the 15 building fires Ballston Spa departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 2 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 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 50.0% | |
| 2 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 1 | 50.0% |
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 Ballston Spa mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 50.0% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 50.0% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Ballston Spa sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,599 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Smoking | 310 | 38.6 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 272 | 40.8 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 266 | 27.5 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 190 | 38.5 mi | |
| 2014 | Recreation and ceremony | 173 | 25.4 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 130 | 44.2 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 100 | 11.7 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 96 | 12.3 mi | |
| 1993 | Equipment and vehicle use | 90 | 49.8 mi | |
| 2009 | Equipment and vehicle use | 83 | 32.8 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 75 | 26.4 mi | |
| 2002 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 75 | 44.2 mi |
Top 2 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 Ballston Spa. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Ballston Spa.
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.