In 2025, fire departments serving Hancock responded to 53 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $35K 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 62% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
133 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $95K cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 0 | — | |
| 2022 | 29 | — | |
| 2023* | 15 | — | |
| 2024 | 36 | — | |
| 2025 | 53 | +47.2% |
* Well below Hancock's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.
For the 5 building fires Hancock departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 19 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 | Undetermined | 4 | 21.1% | |
| 2 | Other | 2 | 10.5% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 2 | 10.5% | |
| 4 | Equipment or service area, other | 2 | 10.5% | |
| 5 | Duct: hvac, cable, exhaust, heating, or AC | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 6 | Ceiling & floor assembly, crawl space b/t stories | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 7 | Wall assembly | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 9 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 10 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 3 | 15.8% |
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 Hancock mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 9 | 47.4% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 2 | 10.5% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 10.5% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 2 | 10.5% | |
| 5 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 2 | 10.5% | |
| 6 | Fireworks | 1 | 5.3% | |
| 7 | Radiated heat from another fire | 1 | 5.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Hancock departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $35,000 | Water vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Hancock sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 14,280 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Smoking | 2,855 | 48.7 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 2,759 | 44.4 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,028 | 46.2 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 998 | 48.7 mi | |
| 2008 | Arson/incendiarism | 995 | 48.3 mi | |
| 2001 | Smoking | 866 | 46.5 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 615 | 48.4 mi | |
| 2010 | Arson/incendiarism | 398 | 49.3 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 388 | 42.9 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 374 | 48.7 mi | |
| 2009 | Arson/incendiarism | 300 | 43.8 mi | |
| 1999 | Natural | 175 | 46.5 mi |
Top 5 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 Hancock. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
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.