In 2025, fire departments serving Highland responded to 69 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $150K 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 70% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
326 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $609K cumulative property loss. 1 civilian deaths.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 44 | — | |
| 2022 | 91 | +106.8% | |
| 2023 | 86 | -5.5% | |
| 2024* | 36 | — | |
| 2025 | 69 | — |
* Well below Highland'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 Highland departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 56 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 | Outside area, other | 20 | 35.7% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 9 | 16.1% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 8 | 14.3% | |
| 4 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 3 | 5.4% | |
| 5 | Wall surface: exterior | 2 | 3.6% | |
| 6 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 3.6% | |
| 7 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 2 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Entrance way, lobby | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 9 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 10 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 7 | 12.5% |
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 Highland mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 19 | 33.9% | |
| 2 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 7 | 12.5% | |
| 3 | Arcing | 6 | 10.7% | |
| 4 | Backfire from internal combustion engine | 4 | 7.1% | |
| 5 | Heat source: other | 3 | 5.4% | |
| 6 | Heat, spark from friction | 3 | 5.4% | |
| 7 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 2 | 3.6% | |
| 8 | Heat from undetermined smoking material | 2 | 3.6% | |
| 9 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 2 | 3.6% | |
| 10 | Undetermined | 2 | 3.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 6 | 10.7% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Highland departments in 2025. These 5 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $150,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $4,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $4,000 | Cooking fire, confined to container | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $1,000 | Water vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $500 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Highland sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 18,170 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Smoking | 2,855 | 15.5 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 2,759 | 25.5 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,028 | 20.3 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,300 | 45.3 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 998 | 15.5 mi | |
| 2001 | Smoking | 866 | 17.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Smoking | 700 | 25.0 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 641 | 38.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 552 | 35.3 mi | |
| 2001 | Smoking | 550 | 20.2 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 485 | 35.7 mi | |
| 2012 | Smoking | 481 | 30.8 mi |
Top 1 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
| # | ZIP | 5-yr incidents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 12528 | 326 |
Six New York cities with population within ±25% of Highland. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Highland.
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.