In 2025, fire departments serving Ghent responded to 20 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $30K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Incomplete 2025 data. Ghent's departments reported 20 incidents to NFIRS for 2025, against about 34 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 75% of all calls.
Mar peaks. May dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
169 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $172K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 37 | — | |
| 2022 | 53 | +43.2% | |
| 2023 | 39 | -26.4% | |
| 2024* | 20 | — | |
| 2025* | 20 | — |
* Well below Ghent'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 5 building fires Ghent departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 24 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 | Maintenance shop or area, paint shop or area | 4 | 16.7% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 12.5% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 3 | 12.5% | |
| 4 | Heating room or area, water heater area | 2 | 8.3% | |
| 5 | Structural area, other | 2 | 8.3% | |
| 6 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 8.3% | |
| 7 | Function area, other | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 8 | Storage area, other | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 9 | Ceiling & floor assembly, crawl space b/t stories | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 10 | Wall assembly | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 4 | 16.7% |
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 Ghent mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 8 | 33.3% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 8.3% | |
| 3 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 8.3% | |
| 4 | Radiated heat from another fire | 2 | 8.3% | |
| 5 | Conducted heat from another fire | 2 | 8.3% | |
| 6 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 7 | Arcing | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 8 | Molten, hot material | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 9 | Backfire from internal combustion engine | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 10 | Chemical reaction | 1 | 4.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 3 | 12.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Ghent departments in 2025. These 7 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $8,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $8,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $7,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $4,000 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $4,000 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $1,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Ghent sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 9,525 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 | 45.6 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,300 | 47.1 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 998 | 45.6 mi | |
| 2001 | Smoking | 866 | 47.2 mi | |
| 2001 | Smoking | 550 | 43.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Natural | 384 | 40.0 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 321 | 43.7 mi | |
| 2001 | Recreation and ceremony | 285 | 41.5 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 272 | 38.0 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 240 | 50.0 mi | |
| 1999 | Natural | 175 | 47.2 mi | |
| 2017 | Recreation and ceremony | 154 | 43.1 mi |
Top 5 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 Ghent. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Ghent.
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.