In 2025, fire departments serving Holderness responded to 52 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $10K 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 54% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
233 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $26K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 41 | — | |
| 2022 | 55 | +34.1% | |
| 2023 | 37 | -32.7% | |
| 2024 | 48 | +29.7% | |
| 2025 | 52 | +8.3% |
For the 8 building fires Holderness departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 31 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 | 15 | 48.4% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 7 | 22.6% | |
| 3 | Wall surface: exterior | 2 | 6.5% | |
| 4 | Other | 1 | 3.2% | |
| 5 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 3.2% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 3.2% | |
| 7 | Chute/container - trash, rubbish, waste | 1 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Wall assembly | 1 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Courtyard, patio, porch, terrace | 1 | 3.2% | |
| 10 | Wildland, woods | 1 | 3.2% |
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 Holderness mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 15 | 48.4% | |
| 2 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 3 | 9.7% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 2 | 6.5% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 2 | 6.5% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 6.5% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 3.2% | |
| 7 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 3.2% | |
| 8 | Explosive, fireworks, other | 1 | 3.2% | |
| 9 | Incendiary device | 1 | 3.2% | |
| 10 | Cigarette | 1 | 3.2% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 2 | 6.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Holderness departments in 2025. These 2 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $10,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $2,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Holderness sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,697 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 329 | 24.7 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 275 | 17.0 mi | |
| 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 139 | 29.5 mi | |
| 2015 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 137 | 41.1 mi | |
| 2012 | Debris and open burning | 120 | 39.0 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 92 | 20.9 mi | |
| 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 72 | 22.3 mi | |
| 1995 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 | 39.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 59 | 36.7 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 54 | 12.9 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 28.5 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 47 | 42.7 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 New Hampshire cities with population within ±25% of Holderness. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Holderness.
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.