In 2025, fire departments serving Carthage responded to 60 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $1 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 82% of all calls.
Feb peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
259 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $115 cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 27 | — | |
| 2022 | 86 | — | |
| 2023 | 45 | -47.7% | |
| 2024 | 41 | -8.9% | |
| 2025 | 60 | +46.3% |
* Well below Carthage's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.
For the 4 building fires Carthage departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 5 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 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 20.0% | |
| 2 | Storage area, other | 1 | 20.0% | |
| 3 | Wall assembly | 1 | 20.0% | |
| 4 | Vehicle area, other | 1 | 20.0% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 1 | 20.0% |
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 Carthage mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 2 | 40.0% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 20.0% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 1 | 20.0% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 20.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Carthage departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1 | Hazardous condition, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Carthage sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 23 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 802 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 190 | 47.0 mi | |
| 2012 | Smoking | 75 | 25.8 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 68 | 26.9 mi | |
| 2001 | Debris and open burning | 66 | 27.1 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 | 30.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 39 | 32.8 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 35 | 31.5 mi | |
| 2008 | Smoking | 30 | 41.7 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 30 | 20.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Arson/incendiarism | 29 | 36.5 mi | |
| 2002 | Equipment and vehicle use | 23 | 14.4 mi | |
| 1992 | Smoking | 21 | 27.4 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 New York cities with population within ±25% of Carthage. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
3 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Carthage.
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.