In 2025, fire departments serving Liberty responded to 103 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $30K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Accident, potential accident, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 49% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Mar dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
591 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $35K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 87 | — | |
| 2022 | 128 | +47.1% | |
| 2023 | 129 | +0.8% | |
| 2024 | 144 | +11.6% | |
| 2025 | 103 | -28.5% |
For the 10 building fires Liberty departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 131 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 | 24 | 18.3% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 21 | 16.0% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 18 | 13.7% | |
| 4 | Cooking area, kitchen | 17 | 13.0% | |
| 5 | Function area, other | 12 | 9.2% | |
| 6 | Other | 7 | 5.3% | |
| 7 | Vehicle area, other | 7 | 5.3% | |
| 8 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 4 | 3.1% | |
| 9 | Storage area, other | 4 | 3.1% | |
| 10 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 3 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 14 | 10.7% |
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 Liberty mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 48 | 36.6% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 30 | 22.9% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 24 | 18.3% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 10 | 7.6% | |
| 5 | Arcing | 7 | 5.3% | |
| 6 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 4 | 3.1% | |
| 7 | Heat spread from another fire, other | 3 | 2.3% | |
| 8 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 0.8% | |
| 9 | Fireworks | 1 | 0.8% | |
| 10 | Cigarette | 1 | 0.8% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 2 | 1.5% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Liberty departments in 2025. These 4 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $30,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $5,000 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $50 | Fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $1 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Liberty sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 23,402 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 7,949 | 46.4 mi | |
| 2008 | Smoking | 2,855 | 27.9 mi | |
| 2015 | Debris and open burning | 2,759 | 22.4 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 2,028 | 24.0 mi | |
| 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 998 | 27.9 mi | |
| 2008 | Arson/incendiarism | 995 | 44.2 mi | |
| 2001 | Smoking | 866 | 25.6 mi | |
| 2016 | Arson/incendiarism | 647 | 49.9 mi | |
| 2014 | Arson/incendiarism | 615 | 44.3 mi | |
| 1994 | Smoking | 500 | 43.2 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 388 | 21.4 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 374 | 35.5 mi |
Top 6 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 Liberty. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Liberty.
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.