In 2025, fire departments serving Catskill responded to 80 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 61% of all calls.
Feb peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
280 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 8 | — | |
| 2022 | 56 | — | |
| 2023 | 74 | +32.1% | |
| 2024 | 62 | -16.2% | |
| 2025 | 80 | +29.0% |
* Well below Catskill'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 5 building fires Catskill departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 23 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 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 4 | 17.4% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 13.0% | |
| 3 | Other | 2 | 8.7% | |
| 4 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 8.7% | |
| 5 | Outside area, other | 2 | 8.7% | |
| 6 | Undetermined | 2 | 8.7% | |
| 7 | Assembly or sales area, other | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Function area, other | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 9 | Chimney (conversion only) | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 10 | Machinery room or area; elevator machinery room | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 4 | 17.4% |
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 Catskill mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 8 | 34.8% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 7 | 30.4% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 3 | 13.0% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 6 | Cigarette | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Cigarette lighter | 1 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 1 | 4.3% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Catskill sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 12,853 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Smoking | 2,855 | 30.9 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 2,759 | 48.1 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,028 | 42.3 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 998 | 30.9 mi | |
| 2001 | Smoking | 866 | 32.2 mi | |
| 2001 | Smoking | 550 | 40.8 mi | |
| 2016 | Natural | 384 | 42.7 mi | |
| 2001 | Recreation and ceremony | 285 | 41.0 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 240 | 39.6 mi | |
| 1993 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 47.9 mi | |
| 1999 | Natural | 175 | 32.2 mi | |
| 1992 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 163 | 40.5 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 Catskill. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Catskill.
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.