In 2025, fire departments serving Jamestown responded to 54 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Gas leak (natural gas or LPG) lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 70% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Apr dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
299 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $2.9M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 71 | — | |
| 2022 | 69 | -2.8% | |
| 2023 | 58 | -15.9% | |
| 2024 | 47 | -19.0% | |
| 2025 | 54 | +14.9% |
For the 0 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 35 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 | 23 | 65.7% | |
| 2 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 2 | 5.7% | |
| 3 | Interior stairway or ramp | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 4 | Entrance way, lobby | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 5 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 6 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 7 | Heating room or area, water heater area | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Ceiling & floor assembly, crawl space b/t stories | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Roof surface: exterior | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Vehicle area, other | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 2 | 5.7% |
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 | 29 | 82.9% | |
| 2 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 3 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 7 | Lightning | 1 | 2.9% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Jamestown sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
6 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 | 2 | |
| 30-39 | 3 | |
| 40-49 | 1 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 922 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Natural | 120 | 46.4 mi | |
| 2020 | Recreation and ceremony | 94 | 43.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 55 | 34.4 mi | |
| 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 50 | 46.5 mi | |
| 1992 | Recreation and ceremony | 50 | 41.5 mi | |
| 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 42 | 39.6 mi | |
| 1997 | Debris and open burning | 40 | 32.5 mi | |
| 2008 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 40 | 39.6 mi | |
| 2001 | Debris and open burning | 35 | 26.9 mi | |
| 2000 | Arson/incendiarism | 30 | 38.5 mi | |
| 2010 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 30 | 32.7 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 30 | 38.9 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 Rhode Island cities with population within ±25% of Jamestown. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 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.