In 2025, fire departments serving Claremont responded to 211 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $195K 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 57% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,063 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $708K cumulative property loss. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 214 | — | |
| 2022 | 197 | -7.9% | |
| 2023 | 213 | +8.1% | |
| 2024 | 228 | +7.0% | |
| 2025 | 211 | -7.5% |
For the 8 building fires Claremont departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 141 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 | 27 | 19.1% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 20 | 14.2% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 14 | 9.9% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 10 | 7.1% | |
| 5 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 6 | 4.3% | |
| 6 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 6 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 5 | 3.5% | |
| 8 | Wildland, woods | 5 | 3.5% | |
| 9 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 4 | 2.8% | |
| 10 | Other | 3 | 2.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 41 | 29.1% |
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 Claremont mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 61 | 43.3% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 13 | 9.2% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 9 | 6.4% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 9 | 6.4% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 6 | 4.3% | |
| 6 | Cigarette | 6 | 4.3% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 5 | 3.5% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 5 | 3.5% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 5 | 3.5% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 4 | 2.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 18 | 12.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Claremont departments in 2025. These 7 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $195,200 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $20,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $1,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $600 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $500 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $50 | Outside mailbox fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Claremont sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,429 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 270 | 28.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 190 | 25.7 mi | |
| 2015 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 137 | 24.1 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 120 | 39.3 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 92 | 39.8 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 | 21.4 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 59 | 38.2 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 54 | 38.5 mi | |
| 2015 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 47 | 40.9 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 47 | 38.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 46 | 26.3 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 41 | 46.6 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 | 03743 | 1,063 |
Six New Hampshire cities with population within ±25% of Claremont. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Claremont.
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.