In 2025, fire departments serving Brattleboro responded to 150 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $300K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 47% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,011 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $1.3M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 254 | — | |
| 2022 | 218 | -14.2% | |
| 2023 | 219 | +0.5% | |
| 2024 | 170 | -22.4% | |
| 2025 | 150 | -11.8% |
For the 15 building fires Brattleboro departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 180 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 | 28 | 15.6% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 26 | 14.4% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 21 | 11.7% | |
| 4 | Other | 11 | 6.1% | |
| 5 | Wildland, woods | 11 | 6.1% | |
| 6 | Undetermined | 11 | 6.1% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 7 | 3.9% | |
| 8 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 6 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 5 | 2.8% | |
| 10 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 5 | 2.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 49 | 27.2% |
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 Brattleboro mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 81 | 45.0% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 14 | 7.8% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 12 | 6.7% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 12 | 6.7% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 10 | 5.6% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 8 | 4.4% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 5 | 2.8% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 4 | 2.2% | |
| 9 | Cigarette | 4 | 2.2% | |
| 10 | Candle | 4 | 2.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 26 | 14.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Brattleboro departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 99% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $300,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $108,100 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $2,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Brattleboro sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,342 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 321 | 48.0 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 272 | 28.9 mi | |
| 1992 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 270 | 35.8 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 39.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 190 | 30.4 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 130 | 39.9 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 120 | 27.2 mi | |
| 2009 | Equipment and vehicle use | 83 | 46.8 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 75 | 37.6 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 | 45.1 mi | |
| 2020 | Natural | 55 | 27.4 mi | |
| 2008 | Debris and open burning | 55 | 38.5 mi |
Top 5 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 Brattleboro. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
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.