In 2025, fire departments serving Elmsford responded to 69 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 71% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
448 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $200K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 74 | — | |
| 2022 | 112 | +51.4% | |
| 2023 | 93 | -17.0% | |
| 2024 | 100 | +7.5% | |
| 2025 | 69 | -31.0% |
For the 6 building fires Elmsford departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 100 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 | 29 | 29.0% | |
| 2 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 14 | 14.0% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 12 | 12.0% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 8 | 8.0% | |
| 5 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 6 | 6.0% | |
| 6 | Cargo/trunk area - all vehicles | 6 | 6.0% | |
| 7 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 4 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Office | 2 | 2.0% | |
| 9 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 2 | 2.0% | |
| 10 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 15 | 15.0% |
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 Elmsford mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 49 | 49.0% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 18 | 18.0% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 10 | 10.0% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 8 | 8.0% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 5 | 5.0% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 4 | 4.0% | |
| 7 | Molten, hot material | 2 | 2.0% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 2.0% | |
| 9 | Heat, spark from friction | 1 | 1.0% | |
| 10 | Candle | 1 | 1.0% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Elmsford sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 9,355 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,000 | 47.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Smoking | 700 | 23.4 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 641 | 17.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 552 | 20.8 mi | |
| 2001 | Smoking | 550 | 45.3 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 485 | 22.5 mi | |
| 2012 | Smoking | 481 | 18.7 mi | |
| 2010 | Firearms and explosives use | 475 | 47.7 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 468 | 23.4 mi | |
| 1999 | Recreation and ceremony | 410 | 17.5 mi | |
| 2013 | Recreation and ceremony | 363 | 6.5 mi | |
| 1997 | Arson/incendiarism | 350 | 32.8 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 York cities with population within ±25% of Elmsford. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Elmsford.
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.