In 2025, fire departments serving Bradford responded to 40 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $200K 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 75% of all calls.
May peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
163 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $1.4M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 32 | — | |
| 2022 | 25 | -21.9% | |
| 2023 | 20 | -20.0% | |
| 2024 | 46 | +130.0% | |
| 2025 | 40 | -13.0% |
For the 12 building fires Bradford departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 25 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 | 6 | 24.0% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 4 | 16.0% | |
| 3 | Wildland, woods | 4 | 16.0% | |
| 4 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 8.0% | |
| 5 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 2 | 8.0% | |
| 6 | Other | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 7 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Wall surface: exterior | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 9 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 10 | Exterior, exposed surface | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 2 | 8.0% |
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 Bradford mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 11 | 44.0% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 12.0% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 2 | 8.0% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 8.0% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 6 | Heat from undetermined smoking material | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 7 | Match | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Candle | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 9 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 10 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 1 | 4.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 1 | 4.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Bradford departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $500 | Dumpster or other outside trash receptacle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Bradford sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
5 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 0 | |
| 30-39 | 3 | |
| 40-49 | 1 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 1 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,449 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 270 | 47.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 190 | 13.3 mi | |
| 2015 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 137 | 40.4 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 120 | 45.4 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 92 | 25.7 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 | 42.4 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 59 | 18.1 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 54 | 39.8 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 49.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 47 | 44.4 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 46 | 45.9 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 46 | 14.0 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 03221 | 162 |
Six New Hampshire cities with population within ±25% of Bradford. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Bradford.
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.