In 2025, fire departments serving Hanover responded to 97 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $200K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 59% of all calls.
Oct peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
392 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $518K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 62 | — | |
| 2022 | 88 | +41.9% | |
| 2023 | 81 | -8.0% | |
| 2024 | 64 | -21.0% | |
| 2025 | 97 | +51.6% |
For the 6 building fires Hanover departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 43 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 | 8 | 18.6% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 5 | 11.6% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 3 | 7.0% | |
| 4 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 3 | 7.0% | |
| 5 | Corridor, mall | 2 | 4.7% | |
| 6 | Interior stairway or ramp | 2 | 4.7% | |
| 7 | Laboratory | 2 | 4.7% | |
| 8 | Duct: hvac, cable, exhaust, heating, or AC | 2 | 4.7% | |
| 9 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 4.7% | |
| 10 | Wildland, woods | 2 | 4.7% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 12 | 27.9% |
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 Hanover mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 10 | 23.3% | |
| 2 | Arcing | 7 | 16.3% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 3 | 7.0% | |
| 4 | Heat, spark from friction | 3 | 7.0% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 4.7% | |
| 6 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 4.7% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 4.7% | |
| 8 | Sunlight | 2 | 4.7% | |
| 9 | Chemical reaction | 2 | 4.7% | |
| 10 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 2 | 4.7% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 8 | 18.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Hanover departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Hanover sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,730 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 275 | 47.2 mi | |
| 1992 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 270 | 44.4 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 190 | 45.7 mi | |
| 2015 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 137 | 11.0 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 120 | 17.3 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 92 | 37.0 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 72 | 30.3 mi | |
| 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 | 30.3 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 59 | 45.0 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 54 | 18.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 47 | 18.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 46 | 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 Hampshire cities with population within ±25% of Hanover. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Hanover.
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.