In 2025, fire departments serving Guilford responded to 19 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $10K 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 68% of all calls.
Sep peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
98 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $407K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 13 | — | |
| 2022 | 24 | +84.6% | |
| 2023 | 23 | -4.2% | |
| 2024 | 19 | -17.4% | |
| 2025 | 19 | +0.0% |
For the 3 building fires Guilford departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 14 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 5 | 35.7% | |
| 2 | Other | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 3 | Function area, other | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 5 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 6 | Structural area, other | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 7 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 8 | Outside area, other | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 9 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 10 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 1 | 7.1% |
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 Guilford mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 28.6% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 2 | 14.3% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 14.3% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 7 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 8 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 1 | 7.1% | |
| 9 | Undetermined | 1 | 7.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Guilford departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $10,050 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $500 | Chimney or flue fire, confined to chimney or flue | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Guilford sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 931 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 140 | 49.8 mi | |
| 1997 | Debris and open burning | 60 | 25.5 mi | |
| 2015 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 53 | 27.9 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 49 | 37.0 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 45 | 26.4 mi | |
| 1997 | Debris and open burning | 40 | 32.5 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 40 | 16.9 mi | |
| 1999 | Natural | 40 | 18.2 mi | |
| 1999 | Smoking | 40 | 41.0 mi | |
| 1993 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 38 | 26.3 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 31 | 31.3 mi | |
| 1997 | Debris and open burning | 30 | 12.5 mi |
Top 8 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 Guilford. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Guilford.
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.