In 2025, fire departments serving Interlaken responded to 30 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $5K 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.
Mar peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
128 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2025. $6K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 24 | — | |
| 2022 | 27 | +12.5% | |
| 2023 | 24 | -11.1% | |
| 2024 | 23 | -4.2% | |
| 2025 | 30 | +30.4% |
For the 4 building fires Interlaken departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 7 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 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 28.6% | |
| 2 | Egress/exit, other | 1 | 14.3% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 14.3% | |
| 4 | Outside area, other | 1 | 14.3% | |
| 5 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 1 | 14.3% | |
| 6 | Undetermined | 1 | 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 Interlaken mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 4 | 57.1% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 1 | 14.3% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 14.3% | |
| 4 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 14.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Interlaken departments in 2025. These 1 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $5,000 | Fire in motor home, camper, recreational vehicle | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Interlaken sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,903 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 694 | 25.4 mi | |
| 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | 130 | 48.1 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 130 | 24.2 mi | |
| 2016 | Equipment and vehicle use | 100 | 49.9 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 85 | 38.9 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 52 | 36.3 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 52 | 38.0 mi | |
| 1994 | Debris and open burning | 50 | 29.1 mi | |
| 2003 | Arson/incendiarism | 49 | 29.3 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 44 | 36.7 mi | |
| 2018 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 43 | 46.9 mi | |
| 2010 | Debris and open burning | 40 | 48.2 mi |
Top 2 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six New York cities with population within ±25% of Interlaken. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Interlaken.
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.