In 2025, fire departments serving Little Falls responded to 35 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Fire, other lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 63% of all calls.
Jul peaks. Mar dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
184 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2022. $15K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 29 | — | |
| 2022 | 46 | +58.6% | |
| 2023 | 40 | -13.0% | |
| 2024 | 34 | -15.0% | |
| 2025 | 35 | +2.9% |
For the 2 building fires Little Falls departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 44 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 | Cooking area, kitchen | 10 | 22.7% | |
| 2 | Other | 7 | 15.9% | |
| 3 | Outside area, other | 5 | 11.4% | |
| 4 | Undetermined | 5 | 11.4% | |
| 5 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 2 | 4.5% | |
| 6 | Storage area, other | 2 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Structural area, other | 2 | 4.5% | |
| 8 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 2 | 4.5% | |
| 9 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Function area, other | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 7 | 15.9% |
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 Little Falls mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 21 | 47.7% | |
| 2 | Heat source: other | 7 | 15.9% | |
| 3 | Spark, ember or flame from operating equipment | 4 | 9.1% | |
| 4 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 3 | 6.8% | |
| 5 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 4.5% | |
| 6 | Cigarette | 2 | 4.5% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 8 | Arcing | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 9 | Hot ember or ash | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 10 | Match | 1 | 2.3% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 1 | 2.3% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Little Falls sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,572 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Smoking | 310 | 41.7 mi | |
| 2001 | Arson/incendiarism | 266 | 37.3 mi | |
| 1992 | Arson/incendiarism | 96 | 41.3 mi | |
| 1999 | Natural | 70 | 37.5 mi | |
| 2007 | Natural | 65 | 37.1 mi | |
| 1995 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 53 | 49.5 mi | |
| 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | 50 | 30.6 mi | |
| 2001 | Recreation and ceremony | 47 | 9.0 mi | |
| 2008 | Debris and open burning | 46 | 48.6 mi | |
| 1995 | Debris and open burning | 45 | 35.0 mi | |
| 1999 | Debris and open burning | 40 | 47.1 mi | |
| 1999 | Smoking | 40 | 49.1 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 York cities with population within ±25% of Little Falls. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Little Falls.
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.