In 2025, fire departments serving Bennington responded to 50 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 68% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
355 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $1.4M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 82 | — | |
| 2022 | 72 | -12.2% | |
| 2023 | 70 | -2.8% | |
| 2024 | 81 | +15.7% | |
| 2025 | 50 | -38.3% |
For the 1 building fires Bennington departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 49 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 | 11 | 22.4% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 5 | 10.2% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 5 | 10.2% | |
| 4 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 4 | 8.2% | |
| 5 | Wall surface: exterior | 3 | 6.1% | |
| 6 | Outside area, other | 3 | 6.1% | |
| 7 | Other | 2 | 4.1% | |
| 8 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 4.1% | |
| 9 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 4.1% | |
| 10 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 2 | 4.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 10 | 20.4% |
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 Bennington mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 13 | 26.5% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 7 | 14.3% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 3 | 6.1% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 6.1% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 6.1% | |
| 6 | Cigarette lighter | 3 | 6.1% | |
| 7 | Candle | 3 | 6.1% | |
| 8 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 4.1% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 4.1% | |
| 10 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 4.1% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 8 | 16.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Bennington departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $8,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $2 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Bennington sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 14,340 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 4,000 | 45.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 2,000 | 26.0 mi | |
| 2017 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 1,100 | 46.4 mi | |
| 2018 | Arson/incendiarism | 715 | 22.9 mi | |
| 2014 | Smoking | 700 | 44.4 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 500 | 25.7 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 480 | 46.6 mi | |
| 2005 | Equipment and vehicle use | 443 | 44.5 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 400 | 37.5 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 340 | 47.2 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 320 | 49.5 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 38.3 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 Nebraska cities with population within ±25% of Bennington. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Bennington.
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.