In 2025, fire departments serving Bedford responded to 52 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Hazardous condition, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 67% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jul dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
289 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $50K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 42 | — | |
| 2022 | 101 | +140.5% | |
| 2023 | 61 | -39.6% | |
| 2024* | 33 | — | |
| 2025 | 52 | — |
* Well below Bedford'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 5 building fires Bedford 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 | Undetermined | 3 | 37.5% | |
| 2 | Assembly area - less than 100 persons | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 3 | Dining room, cafeteria bar area, beverage service | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 5 | Wall surface: exterior | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 6 | Wildland, woods | 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 Bedford mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arcing | 3 | 37.5% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 3 | 37.5% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 12.5% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Bedford sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 15,858 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 2,759 | 48.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,028 | 47.1 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,300 | 48.5 mi | |
| 1995 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,000 | 46.2 mi | |
| 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 992 | 49.3 mi | |
| 1999 | Smoking | 700 | 20.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 641 | 22.8 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 552 | 24.6 mi | |
| 2001 | Smoking | 550 | 32.1 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 485 | 26.6 mi | |
| 2012 | Smoking | 481 | 18.5 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 468 | 20.0 mi |
Top 6 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 Bedford. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
3 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Bedford.
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.