In 2025, fire departments serving Foster responded to 34 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $50K 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 68% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
228 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $50K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 62 | — | |
| 2022 | 61 | -1.6% | |
| 2023 | 41 | -32.8% | |
| 2024 | 30 | -26.8% | |
| 2025 | 34 | +13.3% |
For the 6 building fires Foster departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 13 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 | Undetermined | 5 | 38.5% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 3 | 23.1% | |
| 3 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 4 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 5 | Storage area, other | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 6 | Ceiling & floor assembly, crawl space b/t stories | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 7 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 1 | 7.7% |
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 Foster mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 8 | 61.5% | |
| 2 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 2 | 15.4% | |
| 3 | Cigarette lighter | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 4 | Candle | 1 | 7.7% | |
| 5 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 1 | 7.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Foster departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Foster sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 4,107 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 800 | 49.1 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 700 | 49.1 mi | |
| 1997 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 361 | 42.2 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 44.4 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 49.1 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 256 | 49.0 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 49.5 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 172 | 49.2 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 150 | 43.0 mi | |
| 2020 | Recreation and ceremony | 94 | 22.8 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 79 | 49.1 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 58 | 47.2 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 Rhode Island cities with population within ±25% of Foster. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Foster.
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.