In 2025, fire departments serving Gloversville responded to 318 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $350K 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 68% of all calls.
Feb peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,430 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $746K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 257 | — | |
| 2022 | 303 | +17.9% | |
| 2023 | 225 | -25.7% | |
| 2024 | 327 | +45.3% | |
| 2025 | 318 | -2.8% |
For the 35 building fires Gloversville departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 105 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 | 19 | 18.1% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 13 | 12.4% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 8 | 7.6% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 5 | 4.8% | |
| 5 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 4 | 3.8% | |
| 6 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 4 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 4 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Conduit, pipe, utility, or ventilation shaft | 4 | 3.8% | |
| 9 | Vehicle area, other | 4 | 3.8% | |
| 10 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 4 | 3.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 36 | 34.3% |
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 Gloversville mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 39 | 37.1% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 10 | 9.5% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 9 | 8.6% | |
| 4 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 9 | 8.6% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 6 | 5.7% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 6 | 5.7% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 5 | 4.8% | |
| 8 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Cigarette | 3 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Heat, spark from friction | 2 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 13 | 12.4% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Gloversville departments in 2025. These 6 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $350,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $8,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $1 | Off-road vehicle or heavy equipment fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $1 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $1 | Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Gloversville sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 2,123 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Smoking | 310 | 29.6 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 266 | 19.2 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 190 | 40.8 mi | |
| 2014 | Recreation and ceremony | 173 | 37.0 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 100 | 32.0 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 96 | 15.9 mi | |
| 2002 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 75 | 42.8 mi | |
| 2004 | Debris and open burning | 73 | 26.3 mi | |
| 1999 | Natural | 70 | 16.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 65 | 35.5 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 58 | 32.0 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 53 | 33.9 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 Gloversville. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
4 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Gloversville.
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.