In 2025, fire departments serving Kingston responded to 163 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $26K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Cooking fire, confined to container lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 63% of all calls.
May peaks. Sep dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
970 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $463K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 152 | — | |
| 2022 | 314 | +106.6% | |
| 2023 | 167 | -46.8% | |
| 2024 | 174 | +4.2% | |
| 2025 | 163 | -6.3% |
For the 9 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 30 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 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 7 | 23.3% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 7 | 23.3% | |
| 3 | Cooking area, kitchen | 3 | 10.0% | |
| 4 | Storage area, other | 3 | 10.0% | |
| 5 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 6.7% | |
| 6 | Undetermined | 2 | 6.7% | |
| 7 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 8 | Substructure area or space, crawl space | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 9 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 10 | Fuel tank, fuel line | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 2 | 6.7% |
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 Kingston mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arcing | 6 | 20.0% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 5 | 16.7% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 4 | 13.3% | |
| 4 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 3 | 10.0% | |
| 5 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 3 | 10.0% | |
| 6 | Heat, spark from friction | 3 | 10.0% | |
| 7 | Heat source: other | 2 | 6.7% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 6.7% | |
| 9 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 1 | 3.3% | |
| 10 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 1 | 3.3% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Kingston departments in 2025. These 3 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $26,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $15,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $5,000 | Road freight or transport vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Kingston sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 17,504 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Smoking | 2,855 | 14.6 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 2,759 | 31.4 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,028 | 25.4 mi | |
| 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1,300 | 48.1 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 998 | 14.6 mi | |
| 2001 | Smoking | 866 | 16.6 mi | |
| 1999 | Smoking | 700 | 39.3 mi | |
| 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 552 | 49.0 mi | |
| 2001 | Smoking | 550 | 27.6 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 485 | 49.2 mi | |
| 2012 | Smoking | 481 | 45.1 mi | |
| 1999 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 468 | 39.3 mi |
Top 3 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 Kingston. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
5 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.