In 2025, fire departments serving Kingston responded to 65 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $200K 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 68% of all calls.
May peaks. Mar dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
339 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2023. $970K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 62 | — | |
| 2022 | 43 | -30.6% | |
| 2023 | 90 | +109.3% | |
| 2024 | 79 | -12.2% | |
| 2025 | 65 | -17.7% |
For the 15 building fires Kingston departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 32 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 | 17 | 53.1% | |
| 2 | Other | 9 | 28.1% | |
| 3 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 5 | Vehicle storage area; garage, carport | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 6 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 7 | Wall surface: exterior | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 8 | Vehicle area, other | 1 | 3.1% |
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 Kingston mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 21 | 65.6% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 3 | 9.4% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 2 | 6.2% | |
| 4 | Multiple heat sources including multiple ignitions | 2 | 6.2% | |
| 5 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 6 | Lightning | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 7 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 1 | 3.1% | |
| 8 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 1 | 3.1% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Kingston departments in 2025. These 5 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $200,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $100,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $10,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $5,000 | Fires in structures other than in a building | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Kingston sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 4,089 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 | 41.0 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 700 | 41.1 mi | |
| 2018 | Debris and open burning | 314 | 38.5 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 44.2 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 300 | 41.1 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 256 | 41.2 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 250 | 41.1 mi | |
| 2007 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 186 | 20.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 172 | 40.9 mi | |
| 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 92 | 44.1 mi | |
| 2014 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 90 | 29.3 mi | |
| 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 79 | 41.2 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 Hampshire cities with population within ±25% of Kingston. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Kingston.
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.