In 2025, fire departments serving Gilford responded to 94 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $100K 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 56% of all calls.
Jun peaks. Oct dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
771 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $1.0M cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 161 | — | |
| 2022 | 193 | +19.9% | |
| 2023 | 154 | -20.2% | |
| 2024 | 169 | +9.7% | |
| 2025 | 94 | -44.4% |
For the 14 building fires Gilford departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 117 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 | 36 | 30.8% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 9 | 7.7% | |
| 3 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 8 | 6.8% | |
| 4 | Wildland, woods | 8 | 6.8% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 7 | 6.0% | |
| 6 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 6 | 5.1% | |
| 7 | Other | 5 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Outside area, other | 5 | 4.3% | |
| 9 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 3 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 3 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 27 | 23.1% |
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 Gilford mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hot ember or ash | 26 | 22.2% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 25 | 21.4% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 13 | 11.1% | |
| 4 | Cigarette lighter | 11 | 9.4% | |
| 5 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 8 | 6.8% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 8 | 6.8% | |
| 7 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 5 | 4.3% | |
| 8 | Chemical reaction | 5 | 4.3% | |
| 9 | Match | 4 | 3.4% | |
| 10 | Heat source: other | 3 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 9 | 7.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Gilford departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Gilford sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,994 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 | 31.7 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 314 | 37.9 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 275 | 17.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 190 | 49.0 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 139 | 36.7 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 92 | 11.2 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 72 | 38.8 mi | |
| 1995 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 | 44.1 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 59 | 26.0 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 54 | 28.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 14.8 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 46 | 49.5 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 Gilford. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Gilford.
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.