In 2025, fire departments serving Glens Falls responded to 94 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $1.0M building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Unauthorized burning lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 57% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
508 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $2.8M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 96 | — | |
| 2022 | 128 | +33.3% | |
| 2023 | 88 | -31.2% | |
| 2024 | 102 | +15.9% | |
| 2025 | 94 | -7.8% |
For the 13 building fires Glens Falls departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 104 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 | Cooking area, kitchen | 17 | 16.3% | |
| 2 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 10 | 9.6% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 9 | 8.7% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 7 | 6.7% | |
| 5 | Other | 4 | 3.8% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 4 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Processing/manufacturing area, workroom | 4 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 3 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Service facilities, other | 3 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 3 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 40 | 38.5% |
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 Glens Falls mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 24 | 23.1% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 19 | 18.3% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 11 | 10.6% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 11 | 10.6% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 10 | 9.6% | |
| 6 | Cigarette | 9 | 8.7% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 3 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 3 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 9 | 8.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Glens Falls departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,000,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $7,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Glens Falls sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
6 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 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 2 | |
| 30-39 | 1 | |
| 40-49 | 0 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,953 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Smoking | 310 | 33.4 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 272 | 48.0 mi | |
| 1992 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 270 | 37.3 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 266 | 28.3 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 190 | 22.7 mi | |
| 2014 | Recreation and ceremony | 173 | 6.7 mi | |
| 2015 | Recreation and ceremony | 121 | 37.7 mi | |
| 1994 | Recreation and ceremony | 117 | 37.7 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 100 | 11.8 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 96 | 24.2 mi | |
| 2009 | Natural | 95 | 36.6 mi | |
| 2009 | Equipment and vehicle use | 83 | 15.8 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 New York cities with population within ±25% of Glens Falls. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Glens Falls.
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.