In 2025, fire departments serving Hartford responded to 20 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $50K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 70% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
75 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $444K cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 2 | — | |
| 2022* | 8 | — | |
| 2023 | 25 | — | |
| 2024 | 20 | -20.0% | |
| 2025 | 20 | +0.0% |
* Well below Hartford'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 3 building fires Hartford departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 38 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 | 15 | 39.5% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 7 | 18.4% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 10.5% | |
| 4 | Other | 3 | 7.9% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 7.9% | |
| 6 | Railroad right of way: on or near | 2 | 5.3% | |
| 7 | Function area, other | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 8 | Equipment or service area, other | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Vehicle area, other | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 1 | 2.6% |
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 Hartford mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 17 | 44.7% | |
| 2 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 4 | 10.5% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 3 | 7.9% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 7.9% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 7.9% | |
| 6 | Cigarette lighter | 3 | 7.9% | |
| 7 | Arcing | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Cigarette | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Match | 1 | 2.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 1 | 2.6% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Hartford departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $50,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $27,995 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $20,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $10,000 | Brush, or brush and grass mixture fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Hartford sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 7,896 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,200 | 41.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 1,000 | 39.5 mi | |
| 2005 | Debris and open burning | 800 | 46.4 mi | |
| 2017 | Equipment and vehicle use | 700 | 23.2 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 500 | 29.5 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 500 | 31.0 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 346 | 24.6 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 320 | 24.4 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 42.1 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 250 | 30.5 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 200 | 36.8 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 200 | 44.3 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 | 50118 | 75 |
Six Iowa cities with population within ±25% of Hartford. 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.