In 2025, fire departments serving Essex Junction responded to 22 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $40K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Incomplete 2025 data. Essex Junction's departments reported 22 incidents to NFIRS for 2025, against about 77 in a typical year, so 2025 figures on this page undercount. The 2021–2025 totals are the better guide.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 82% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Mar dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
384 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $569K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 110 | — | |
| 2022 | 118 | +7.3% | |
| 2023 | 89 | -24.6% | |
| 2024* | 45 | — | |
| 2025* | 22 | — |
* Well below Essex Junction'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 10 building fires Essex Junction departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 29 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 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 4 | 13.8% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 10.3% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 3 | 10.3% | |
| 4 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 2 | 6.9% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 6.9% | |
| 6 | Wildland, woods | 2 | 6.9% | |
| 7 | Other | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Function area, other | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 10 | Storage: supplies or tools; dead storage | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 9 | 31.0% |
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 Essex Junction mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hot ember or ash | 6 | 20.7% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 6 | 20.7% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 4 | 13.8% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 10.3% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 6.9% | |
| 6 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 2 | 6.9% | |
| 7 | Arcing | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 8 | Fireworks | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 9 | Heat from undetermined smoking material | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 10 | Candle | 1 | 3.4% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 2 | 6.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Essex Junction departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $40,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Essex Junction sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,162 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 | 37.0 mi | |
| 2001 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 330 | 36.8 mi | |
| 1994 | Smoking | 106 | 46.9 mi | |
| 1999 | Recreation and ceremony | 92 | 40.6 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 82 | 42.3 mi | |
| 2001 | Natural | 80 | 17.9 mi | |
| 2001 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 77 | 36.8 mi | |
| 1994 | Smoking | 75 | 33.1 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 65 | 42.3 mi | |
| 2001 | Recreation and ceremony | 60 | 36.8 mi | |
| 2020 | Equipment and vehicle use | 55 | 43.3 mi | |
| 2001 | Natural | 52 | 30.2 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 Vermont cities with population within ±25% of Essex Junction. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
3 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Essex Junction.
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.