In 2025, fire departments serving Buffalo responded to 26 fire and hazmat incidents . 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 73% of all calls.
Mar peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
115 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $110K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 18 | — | |
| 2022 | 26 | +44.4% | |
| 2023 | 21 | -19.2% | |
| 2024 | 24 | +14.3% | |
| 2025 | 26 | +8.3% |
For the 7 building fires Buffalo departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 39 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 | Outside area, other | 8 | 20.5% | |
| 2 | Wildland, woods | 7 | 17.9% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 5 | 12.8% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 5 | 12.8% | |
| 5 | Other | 3 | 7.7% | |
| 6 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 7 | Storage area, other | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 8 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Duct: hvac, cable, exhaust, heating, or AC | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 6 | 15.4% |
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 Buffalo mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 13 | 33.3% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 9 | 23.1% | |
| 3 | Cigarette lighter | 3 | 7.7% | |
| 4 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 3 | 7.7% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 2 | 5.1% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 5.1% | |
| 7 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 5.1% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 2 | 5.1% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Buffalo sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 46,344 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Fireworks | 4,637 | 48.5 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,328 | 34.7 mi | |
| 1999 | Fireworks | 3,171 | 49.1 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 3,082 | 42.4 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,250 | 40.3 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,090 | 44.1 mi | |
| 2001 | Fireworks | 2,063 | 49.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,033 | 44.3 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,678 | 48.9 mi | |
| 2005 | Fireworks | 1,641 | 49.2 mi | |
| 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,640 | 48.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,624 | 28.8 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 | 25033 | 115 |
Six West Virginia cities with population within ±25% of Buffalo. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Buffalo.
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.