In 2025, fire departments serving Clifton Springs responded to 20 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 95% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
100 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $505K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 54 | — | |
| 2022* | 6 | — | |
| 2023 | 15 | — | |
| 2024* | 5 | — | |
| 2025 | 20 | — |
* Well below Clifton Springs'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 6 building fires Clifton Springs 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 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 2 | 25.0% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 3 | Computer room, control room or center | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Storage: supplies or tools; dead storage | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 5 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 6 | Chimney (conversion only) | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 7 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 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 Clifton Springs mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 37.5% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 3 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 5 | Conducted heat from another fire | 1 | 12.5% | |
| 6 | Undetermined | 1 | 12.5% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Clifton Springs sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,654 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 | 18.6 mi | |
| 2011 | Smoking | 145 | 35.0 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 130 | 35.9 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 88 | 35.6 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 52 | 46.8 mi | |
| 2020 | Equipment and vehicle use | 48 | 47.6 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 44 | 25.5 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 42 | 34.5 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 40 | 24.6 mi | |
| 2008 | Equipment and vehicle use | 40 | 30.0 mi | |
| 2001 | Recreation and ceremony | 33 | 32.0 mi | |
| 1993 | Debris and open burning | 31 | 27.7 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 Clifton Springs. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Clifton Springs.
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.