In 2025, fire departments serving Franklin responded to 222 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $350K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 75% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
951 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $3.5M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 186 | — | |
| 2022 | 150 | -19.4% | |
| 2023 | 157 | +4.7% | |
| 2024 | 236 | +50.3% | |
| 2025 | 222 | -5.9% |
For the 72 building fires Franklin departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 163 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 | Wildland, woods | 22 | 13.5% | |
| 2 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 17 | 10.4% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 13 | 8.0% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 10 | 6.1% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 9 | 5.5% | |
| 6 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 8 | 4.9% | |
| 7 | Wall assembly | 7 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 7 | 4.3% | |
| 9 | Other | 6 | 3.7% | |
| 10 | Exterior, exposed surface | 6 | 3.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 58 | 35.6% |
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 Franklin mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 38 | 23.3% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 25 | 15.3% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 13 | 8.0% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 12 | 7.4% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 12 | 7.4% | |
| 6 | Cigarette lighter | 8 | 4.9% | |
| 7 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 8 | 4.9% | |
| 8 | Cigarette | 7 | 4.3% | |
| 9 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 6 | 3.7% | |
| 10 | Radiated heat from another fire | 6 | 3.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 28 | 17.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Franklin departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 97% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $350,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $250,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 3 | $209,100 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $175,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $85,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Franklin 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 | 1 | |
| 10-19 | 3 | |
| 20-29 | 0 | |
| 30-39 | 2 | |
| 40-49 | 1 | |
| 50-59 | 1 | |
| 60-69 | 1 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,893 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 329 | 43.9 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 275 | 31.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 190 | 33.9 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 139 | 49.0 mi | |
| 2015 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 137 | 41.7 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 120 | 47.4 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 92 | 6.0 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 72 | 41.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 59 | 16.2 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 54 | 25.8 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 29.9 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 47 | 49.8 mi |
Top 6 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six New Hampshire cities with population within ±25% of Franklin. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Franklin.
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.