In 2025, fire departments serving Bellows Falls responded to 22 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $15K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 73% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
96 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $43K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 13 | — | |
| 2022 | 28 | +115.4% | |
| 2023* | 5 | — | |
| 2024 | 28 | — | |
| 2025 | 22 | -21.4% |
* Well below Bellows Falls'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 6 building fires Bellows Falls departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 5 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 | Exterior stairway, ramp, or fire escape | 1 | 20.0% | |
| 2 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 20.0% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 20.0% | |
| 4 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 1 | 20.0% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 1 | 20.0% |
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 Bellows Falls mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arcing | 2 | 40.0% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 20.0% | |
| 3 | Cigarette lighter | 1 | 20.0% | |
| 4 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 1 | 20.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Bellows Falls departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $10,000 | Rail vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Bellows Falls sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,783 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 272 | 45.4 mi | |
| 1992 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 270 | 26.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 190 | 19.8 mi | |
| 2015 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 137 | 40.8 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 120 | 38.8 mi | |
| 2009 | Equipment and vehicle use | 83 | 45.5 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 75 | 48.5 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 | 29.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 59 | 43.0 mi | |
| 2020 | Natural | 55 | 45.7 mi | |
| 2008 | Debris and open burning | 55 | 43.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 47 | 23.0 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 Vermont cities with population within ±25% of Bellows Falls. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Bellows Falls.
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.