In 2025, fire departments serving Hinsdale responded to 30 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $80 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 67% of all calls.
May peaks. Feb dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
201 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $58K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 63 | — | |
| 2022 | 50 | -20.6% | |
| 2023 | 31 | -38.0% | |
| 2024 | 27 | -12.9% | |
| 2025 | 30 | +11.1% |
For the 3 building fires Hinsdale departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 12 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 | 2 | 16.7% | |
| 2 | Storage area, other | 2 | 16.7% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 2 | 16.7% | |
| 4 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 1 | 8.3% | |
| 5 | Storage: supplies or tools; dead storage | 1 | 8.3% | |
| 6 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 8.3% | |
| 7 | Wall surface: exterior | 1 | 8.3% | |
| 8 | Outside area, other | 1 | 8.3% | |
| 9 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 1 | 8.3% |
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 Hinsdale mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 4 | 33.3% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 2 | 16.7% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 2 | 16.7% | |
| 4 | Lightning | 2 | 16.7% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 8.3% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 8.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Hinsdale departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $80 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Hinsdale sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 4,676 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 800 | 48.7 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 700 | 48.7 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 321 | 46.1 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 48.7 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 272 | 33.5 mi | |
| 1992 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 270 | 41.7 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 256 | 48.8 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 35.3 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 48.1 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 190 | 27.5 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 172 | 48.8 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 130 | 43.1 mi |
Top 3 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six New Hampshire cities with population within ±25% of Hinsdale. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Hinsdale.
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.