In 2025, fire departments serving Bath responded to 107 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 78% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
335 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $411K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 36 | — | |
| 2022 | 70 | — | |
| 2023 | 68 | -2.9% | |
| 2024 | 54 | -20.6% | |
| 2025 | 107 | +98.1% |
* Well below Bath'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 11 building fires Bath departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 45 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 | 7 | 15.6% | |
| 2 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 5 | 11.1% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 5 | 11.1% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 4 | 8.9% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 4 | 8.9% | |
| 6 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 3 | 6.7% | |
| 7 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 3 | 6.7% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 4.4% | |
| 9 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 2 | 4.4% | |
| 10 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 2 | 4.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 8 | 17.8% |
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 Bath mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 12 | 26.7% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 11 | 24.4% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 7 | 15.6% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 5 | 11.1% | |
| 5 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 4.4% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 7 | Molten, hot material | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 8 | Fireworks | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Cigarette | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Cigarette lighter | 1 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 3 | 6.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Bath departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 97% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $67,158 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $49,300 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $9,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $5,000 | Dumpster or other outside trash receptacle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Bath sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,727 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 150 | 22.5 mi | |
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 130 | 19.3 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 130 | 12.1 mi | |
| 2005 | Smoking | 120 | 39.7 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 49.0 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 95 | 40.2 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 88 | 39.9 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 85 | 44.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 73 | 32.9 mi | |
| 2009 | Recreation and ceremony | 60 | 48.5 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 60 | 18.7 mi | |
| 2009 | Debris and open burning | 52 | 43.7 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 Bath. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
3 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Bath.
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.