In 2025, fire departments serving Danbury responded to 682 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $200K 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 62% of all calls.
Feb peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
2,792 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $1.3M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 583 | — | |
| 2022 | 604 | +3.6% | |
| 2023 | 531 | -12.1% | |
| 2024 | 392 | -26.2% | |
| 2025 | 682 | +74.0% |
For the 17 building fires Danbury departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 157 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 38 | 24.2% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 16 | 10.2% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 13 | 8.3% | |
| 4 | Wildland, woods | 10 | 6.4% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 9 | 5.7% | |
| 6 | Vehicle area, other | 8 | 5.1% | |
| 7 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 7 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Exterior, exposed surface | 6 | 3.8% | |
| 9 | Undetermined | 6 | 3.8% | |
| 10 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 5 | 3.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 39 | 24.8% |
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 Danbury mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 76 | 48.4% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 20 | 12.7% | |
| 3 | Hot ember or ash | 9 | 5.7% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 8 | 5.1% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 8 | 5.1% | |
| 6 | Cigarette lighter | 8 | 5.1% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 5 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Heat, spark from friction | 4 | 2.5% | |
| 9 | Heat source: other | 3 | 1.9% | |
| 10 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 3 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 13 | 8.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Danbury departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 77% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $170,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $25,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $20,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $18,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $18,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Danbury sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
9 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 1 | |
| 20-29 | 2 | |
| 30-39 | 0 | |
| 40-49 | 1 | |
| 50-59 | 1 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 1 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 16,279 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 | 48.8 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,028 | 49.3 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,300 | 32.6 mi | |
| 1995 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,000 | 47.8 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 998 | 48.8 mi | |
| 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 992 | 48.7 mi | |
| 1999 | Smoking | 700 | 28.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 641 | 36.3 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 552 | 36.8 mi | |
| 2001 | Smoking | 550 | 20.2 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 485 | 38.6 mi | |
| 2012 | Smoking | 481 | 29.6 mi |
Top 8 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Connecticut cities with population within ±25% of Danbury. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
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.