In 2025, fire departments serving Hartford responded to 75 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $75K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Building fires lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 80% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
324 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $979K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 74 | — | |
| 2022 | 58 | -21.6% | |
| 2023 | 56 | -3.4% | |
| 2024 | 61 | +8.9% | |
| 2025 | 75 | +23.0% |
For the 24 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 98 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 | 24 | 24.5% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 14 | 14.3% | |
| 3 | Other | 9 | 9.2% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 7 | 7.1% | |
| 5 | Vehicle area, other | 7 | 7.1% | |
| 6 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 7 | 7.1% | |
| 7 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 7 | 7.1% | |
| 8 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 3 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Function area, other | 3 | 3.1% | |
| 10 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 3 | 3.1% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 14 | 14.3% |
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 | 58 | 59.2% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 17 | 17.3% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 4 | 4.1% | |
| 4 | Match | 3 | 3.1% | |
| 5 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 3 | 3.1% | |
| 6 | Arcing | 2 | 2.0% | |
| 7 | Cigarette | 2 | 2.0% | |
| 8 | Cigarette lighter | 2 | 2.0% | |
| 9 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 2 | 2.0% | |
| 10 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 1.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 4 | 4.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Hartford departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 94% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $50,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $20,000 | Fire in mobile home used as fixed residence | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $10,000 | Building fires | 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. 883 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | Smoking | 90 | 34.4 mi | |
| 1995 | Smoking | 71 | 30.5 mi | |
| 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 66 | 24.2 mi | |
| 2013 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 52 | 46.7 mi | |
| 2019 | Debris and open burning | 50 | 24.7 mi | |
| 1996 | Arson/incendiarism | 42 | 26.6 mi | |
| 2003 | Smoking | 41 | 30.9 mi | |
| 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 40 | 25.8 mi | |
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 40 | 33.1 mi | |
| 2018 | Fireworks | 40 | 44.3 mi | |
| 2004 | Natural | 34 | 34.1 mi | |
| 2005 | Equipment and vehicle use | 33 | 33.3 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 Michigan cities with population within ±25% of Hartford. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
2 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.