In 2025, fire departments serving Cato responded to 85 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Hazardous condition, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 94% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
245 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 23 | — | |
| 2022 | 35 | — | |
| 2023 | 52 | +48.6% | |
| 2024 | 50 | -3.8% | |
| 2025 | 85 | +70.0% |
* Well below Cato'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 22 building fires Cato departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 8 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 | 2 | 25.0% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 3 | Chimney (conversion only) | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 6 | Outside area, other | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 7 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 1 | 12.5% |
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 Cato mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 3 | 37.5% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 2 | 25.0% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 12.5% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Cato sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 21 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,169 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 | 694 | 15.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Equipment and vehicle use | 100 | 29.2 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 49 | 46.1 mi | |
| 2008 | Smoking | 30 | 39.6 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 29 | 25.3 mi | |
| 2009 | Debris and open burning | 25 | 48.3 mi | |
| 1993 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 25 | 49.2 mi | |
| 1995 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 24 | 47.7 mi | |
| 2013 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 24 | 28.2 mi | |
| 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 23 | 28.0 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 21 | 32.1 mi | |
| 2009 | Debris and open burning | 17 | 42.6 mi |
Top 2 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 Cato. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
3 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Cato.
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.