In 2025, fire departments serving Hartford responded to 21 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $5.0M building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Power line down lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 76% of all calls.
Sep peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
76 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $5.1M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | 5 | — | |
| 2022 | 16 | — | |
| 2023* | 5 | — | |
| 2024 | 29 | — | |
| 2025 | 21 | -27.6% |
* 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 0 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 26 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 | 19.2% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 5 | 19.2% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 5 | 19.2% | |
| 4 | Other | 2 | 7.7% | |
| 5 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 2 | 7.7% | |
| 6 | Railroad right of way: on or near | 2 | 7.7% | |
| 7 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 9 | Fuel tank, fuel line | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 10 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 1 | 3.8% |
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 Hartford mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 15 | 57.7% | |
| 2 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 11.5% | |
| 3 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 7.7% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 3.8% | |
| 9 | Candle | 1 | 3.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Hartford departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $5,000,000 | Aircraft fire | Catastrophic | 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. 3,072 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,475 | 24.7 mi | |
| 2005 | Natural | 225 | 46.1 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 150 | 46.5 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 100 | 48.9 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 80 | 33.2 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 80 | 48.9 mi | |
| 2007 | Equipment and vehicle use | 80 | 16.6 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 80 | 44.7 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 80 | 47.2 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 75 | 28.4 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 60 | 44.6 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 | 44.9 mi |
Top 2 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Illinois cities with population within ±25% of Hartford. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Hartford.
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.