In 2025, fire departments serving Grand Island responded to 76 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $150K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Hazardous condition, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 71% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Nov dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
354 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $167K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 66 | — | |
| 2022 | 91 | +37.9% | |
| 2023 | 67 | -26.4% | |
| 2024 | 54 | -19.4% | |
| 2025 | 76 | +40.7% |
For the 1 building fires Grand Island departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 2 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 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 50.0% | |
| 2 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 50.0% |
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 Grand Island mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 2 | 100.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Grand Island departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Grand Island sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 7 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 163 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 72 | 48.9 mi | |
| 1995 | Smoking | 25 | 43.5 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 19 | 47.4 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 16 | 22.8 mi | |
| 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 11 | 25.0 mi | |
| 2013 | Natural | 10 | 8.4 mi | |
| 2015 | Arson/incendiarism | 10 | 11.2 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 14072 | 354 |
Six New York cities with population within ±25% of Grand Island. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Grand Island.
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.