In 2025, fire departments serving Highgate responded to 31 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $400K 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 61% of all calls.
Oct peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
124 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $1.3M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 25 | — | |
| 2022 | 28 | +12.0% | |
| 2023* | 12 | — | |
| 2024 | 28 | — | |
| 2025 | 31 | +10.7% |
* Well below Highgate'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 5 building fires Highgate departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 21 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 | 4 | 19.0% | |
| 2 | Other | 3 | 14.3% | |
| 3 | Storage area, other | 2 | 9.5% | |
| 4 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 9.5% | |
| 5 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 9.5% | |
| 6 | Exterior stairway, ramp, or fire escape | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 7 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 8 | Service facilities, other | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 9 | Structural area, other | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 10 | Attic: vacant, crawl space above top story, cupola | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 3 | 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 Highgate mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 11 | 52.4% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 3 | 14.3% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 14.3% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 9.5% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 6 | Cigarette lighter | 1 | 4.8% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Highgate departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $400,000 | Building fires | Major | Investigated |
| 2 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $15,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $5,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Highgate sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,340 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Recreation and ceremony | 547 | 29.1 mi | |
| 2001 | Natural | 80 | 40.7 mi | |
| 2020 | Equipment and vehicle use | 55 | 37.7 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 51 | 30.0 mi | |
| 2007 | Debris and open burning | 50 | 30.0 mi | |
| 2012 | Recreation and ceremony | 50 | 24.5 mi | |
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 45 | 21.0 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 44 | 47.9 mi | |
| 1994 | Debris and open burning | 40 | 43.5 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 38 | 29.6 mi | |
| 2007 | Natural | 35 | 28.7 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 30 | 42.5 mi |
Top 7 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Vermont cities with population within ±25% of Highgate. 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.