In 2025, fire departments serving Higganum responded to 41 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $10K 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 68% of all calls.
Aug peaks. Jun dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
212 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $11K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 40 | — | |
| 2022 | 56 | +40.0% | |
| 2023 | 36 | -35.7% | |
| 2024 | 39 | +8.3% | |
| 2025 | 41 | +5.1% |
For the 1 building fires Higganum departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 76 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 | 18 | 23.7% | |
| 2 | Cooking area, kitchen | 15 | 19.7% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 12 | 15.8% | |
| 4 | Other | 6 | 7.9% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 5.3% | |
| 6 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 3 | 3.9% | |
| 7 | Highway, parking lot, street: on or near | 3 | 3.9% | |
| 8 | Heating room or area, water heater area | 2 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 2 | 2.6% | |
| 10 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 1.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 10 | 13.2% |
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 Higganum mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 50 | 65.8% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 5 | 6.6% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 4 | 5.3% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 5.3% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 4 | 5.3% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 3.9% | |
| 7 | Arcing | 2 | 2.6% | |
| 8 | Match | 2 | 2.6% | |
| 9 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 1.3% | |
| 10 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 1 | 1.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Higganum departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $500 | Fire in portable building, fixed location | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $100 | Outside mailbox fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Higganum sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
6 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 1 | |
| 20-29 | 3 | |
| 30-39 | 0 | |
| 40-49 | 0 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 2 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 11,832 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 5,050 | 38.6 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,300 | 33.6 mi | |
| 1995 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1,000 | 49.9 mi | |
| 2012 | Arson/incendiarism | 992 | 44.5 mi | |
| 2016 | Natural | 384 | 45.1 mi | |
| 1997 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 361 | 6.6 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 321 | 49.6 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 250 | 49.9 mi | |
| 1994 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 180 | 29.5 mi | |
| 1994 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 180 | 29.5 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 175 | 25.5 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 175 | 28.5 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 Connecticut cities with population within ±25% of Higganum. 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.