In 2025, fire departments serving Colchester responded to 75 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Incomplete 2025 data. Colchester's departments reported 75 incidents to NFIRS for 2025, against about 163 in a typical year, so 2025 figures on this page undercount. The 2021–2025 totals are the better guide.
Electrical wiring/equipment problem, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 48% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
815 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. 2 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 173 | — | |
| 2022 | 208 | +20.2% | |
| 2023 | 213 | +2.4% | |
| 2024 | 146 | -31.5% | |
| 2025* | 75 | — |
* Well below Colchester'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 Colchester departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 122 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 | Cooking area, kitchen | 30 | 24.6% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 19 | 15.6% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 14 | 11.5% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 9 | 7.4% | |
| 5 | Function area, other | 6 | 4.9% | |
| 6 | Wildland, woods | 5 | 4.1% | |
| 7 | Entrance way, lobby | 4 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 4 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Other | 2 | 1.6% | |
| 10 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 1.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 27 | 22.1% |
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 Colchester mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 58 | 47.5% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 11 | 9.0% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 10 | 8.2% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 8 | 6.6% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 7 | 5.7% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 6 | 4.9% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 6 | 4.9% | |
| 8 | Cigarette | 3 | 2.5% | |
| 9 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 2 | 1.6% | |
| 10 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 1 | 0.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 10 | 8.2% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Colchester sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,158 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Recreation and ceremony | 547 | 30.3 mi | |
| 2001 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 330 | 33.3 mi | |
| 1994 | Smoking | 106 | 44.2 mi | |
| 1999 | Recreation and ceremony | 92 | 39.2 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 82 | 44.2 mi | |
| 2001 | Natural | 80 | 14.4 mi | |
| 2001 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 77 | 33.3 mi | |
| 1994 | Smoking | 75 | 32.9 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 65 | 43.6 mi | |
| 2001 | Recreation and ceremony | 60 | 33.3 mi | |
| 2020 | Equipment and vehicle use | 55 | 36.6 mi | |
| 2001 | Natural | 52 | 27.1 mi |
Top 7 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Vermont cities with population within ±25% of Colchester. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Colchester.
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.