In 2025, fire departments serving Bennington responded to 94 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Vehicle accident, general cleanup lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 72% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Jul dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
641 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $35K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 130 | — | |
| 2022 | 179 | +37.7% | |
| 2023 | 111 | -38.0% | |
| 2024 | 127 | +14.4% | |
| 2025 | 94 | -26.0% |
For the 15 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 101 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 | 19 | 18.8% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 16 | 15.8% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 11 | 10.9% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 11 | 10.9% | |
| 5 | Other | 7 | 6.9% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 6 | 5.9% | |
| 7 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 4 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 3 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Vehicle area, other | 3 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Egress/exit, other | 2 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 19 | 18.8% |
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 Bennington mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 43 | 42.6% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 17 | 16.8% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 16 | 15.8% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 5 | 5.0% | |
| 5 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 3 | 3.0% | |
| 6 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 2.0% | |
| 7 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 2 | 2.0% | |
| 8 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 1.0% | |
| 9 | Arcing | 1 | 1.0% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 1.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 10 | 9.9% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Bennington sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,097 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 | 11.9 mi | |
| 1992 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 270 | 34.7 mi | |
| 2014 | Recreation and ceremony | 173 | 43.0 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 130 | 24.3 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 100 | 31.8 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 96 | 44.9 mi | |
| 2009 | Equipment and vehicle use | 83 | 28.6 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 75 | 7.2 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 73 | 41.3 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 65 | 30.8 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 62 | 49.0 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 | 49.6 mi |
Top 3 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 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.