In 2025, fire departments serving Hartford responded to 65 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $5K 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 83% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
511 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $2.6M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 122 | — | |
| 2022 | 125 | +2.5% | |
| 2023 | 85 | -32.0% | |
| 2024 | 114 | +34.1% | |
| 2025 | 65 | -43.0% |
For the 39 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 105 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 | 21 | 20.0% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 17 | 16.2% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 11 | 10.5% | |
| 4 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 7 | 6.7% | |
| 5 | Undetermined | 7 | 6.7% | |
| 6 | Storage area, other | 4 | 3.8% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 4 | 3.8% | |
| 8 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 3 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 3 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Roof surface: exterior | 3 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 25 | 23.8% |
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 | 35 | 33.3% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 12 | 11.4% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 12 | 11.4% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 8 | 7.6% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 8 | 7.6% | |
| 6 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 7 | 6.7% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 6 | 5.7% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 1.9% | |
| 9 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 2 | 1.9% | |
| 10 | Match | 2 | 1.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 11 | 10.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Hartford departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $1,000 | Fire in portable building, fixed location | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Hartford sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 9,208 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,100 | 23.8 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 1,015 | 23.5 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 829 | 33.0 mi | |
| 1998 | Equipment and vehicle use | 630 | 33.1 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 612 | 27.3 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 508 | 31.7 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 484 | 43.4 mi | |
| 2014 | Debris and open burning | 364 | 21.0 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 360 | 15.9 mi | |
| 2002 | Arson/incendiarism | 325 | 20.6 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 36.5 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 290 | 30.8 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 Wisconsin 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.