In 2025, fire departments serving Chester responded to 63 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Unauthorized burning lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 65% of all calls.
Feb peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
181 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 15 | — | |
| 2022* | 17 | — | |
| 2023 | 34 | — | |
| 2024 | 52 | +52.9% | |
| 2025 | 63 | +21.2% |
* Well below Chester'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 7 building fires Chester departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 24 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 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 4 | 16.7% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 12.5% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Wildland, woods | 3 | 12.5% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 2 | 8.3% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Storage room, area, tank, or bin | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 8 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 9 | Wall assembly | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 10 | Roof surface: exterior | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 4 | 16.7% |
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 Chester mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hot ember or ash | 5 | 20.8% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 4 | 16.7% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 4 | 16.7% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 8.3% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 8.3% | |
| 6 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 8.3% | |
| 7 | Arcing | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 8 | Fireworks | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 9 | Cigarette lighter | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 10 | Chemical reaction | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 1 | 4.2% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Chester sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 4,266 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 800 | 38.0 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 700 | 38.0 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 314 | 41.5 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 47.5 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 38.0 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 256 | 38.1 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 37.9 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 190 | 42.2 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 186 | 26.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 172 | 37.9 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 92 | 36.5 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 90 | 35.7 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 Hampshire cities with population within ±25% of Chester. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Chester.
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.