In 2025, fire departments serving Jamestown responded to 195 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $75K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Unauthorized burning lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 66% of all calls.
Oct peaks. Dec dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
1,172 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $6.9M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 218 | — | |
| 2022 | 275 | +26.1% | |
| 2023 | 232 | -15.6% | |
| 2024 | 252 | +8.6% | |
| 2025 | 195 | -22.6% |
For the 10 building fires Jamestown departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 99 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 | 15 | 15.2% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 12 | 12.1% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 10 | 10.1% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 9 | 9.1% | |
| 5 | Function area, other | 6 | 6.1% | |
| 6 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 5 | 5.1% | |
| 7 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 4 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 4 | 4.0% | |
| 9 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 3 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Exterior balcony, unenclosed porch | 3 | 3.0% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 28 | 28.3% |
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 Jamestown mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 47 | 47.5% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 12 | 12.1% | |
| 3 | Cigarette | 8 | 8.1% | |
| 4 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 6 | 6.1% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 5 | 5.1% | |
| 6 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 5 | 5.1% | |
| 7 | Arcing | 4 | 4.0% | |
| 8 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 3.0% | |
| 9 | Hot ember or ash | 3 | 3.0% | |
| 10 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 2 | 2.0% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 4 | 4.0% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Jamestown departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $75,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $45,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $5,000 | Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $1,000 | Dumpster or other outside trash receptacle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $100 | Dumpster or other outside trash receptacle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $100 | Dumpster or other outside trash receptacle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Jamestown sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
7 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 3 | |
| 30-39 | 2 | |
| 40-49 | 0 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,947 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 780 | 27.2 mi | |
| 1997 | Debris and open burning | 92 | 6.4 mi | |
| 2010 | Natural | 85 | 26.7 mi | |
| 2020 | Debris and open burning | 72 | 21.2 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 65 | 39.3 mi | |
| 2012 | Recreation and ceremony | 64 | 20.4 mi | |
| 2010 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 59 | 39.6 mi | |
| 1992 | Equipment and vehicle use | 54 | 21.9 mi | |
| 2003 | Recreation and ceremony | 54 | 27.9 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 50 | 22.1 mi | |
| 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 49 | 33.5 mi | |
| 2009 | Equipment and vehicle use | 49 | 32.6 mi |
Top 4 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 Jamestown. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
4 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Jamestown.
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.